Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

The SCOTUS hearings

Democrats so far have focused on the risk that Amy Coney Barrett poses to the Affordable Care Act.  This is completely understandable as electioneering.  The ACA was one of their best issues in 2018, and it will be again this year.  But . . . By focusing narrowly on the ACA, the Democrats are missing […]

USPS Update on Court Cases

Steve Hutkins at Save the Post Office Another federal court has ruled against the Postal Service. The United States Postal Service is now 0 for 6. In the case of Richardson v Trump, Judge Emmet Sullivan has ordered a preliminary injunction putting limits on postal operations in the run-up to the election. (Sullivan had also issued a preliminary injunction […]

Voting in a Time of Covid: A Question about Judicial “Originalism”

Voting in a Time of Covid: A Question about Judicial “Originalism” The originalist theory of legal interpretation holds that judges, in reviewing the implementation of a statute, should be guided by the “plain meaning” of its language at the time it was adopted.  This is in opposition to the notion of a “living law”, whose […]

Just Stirring the Pot – Updated

Regeneron Seeks Emergency Approval per trump’s miracle recovery and subsequent endorsement. Biotech company Regeneron moved Wednesday to apply for emergency approval for an experimental antibody treatment praised by President Trump. “Subsequent to our discussions with regulatory authorities, we have submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) […]

New Healthcare Executive Order

Administration Health Care Executive Order, Health Affairs Blog, Katie Keith, September 2020 Trump believes he took action on Healthcare with an Executive Order protecting people with pre-existing conditions and also by eliminating surprise billing. He did not.  On September 24, 2020, D.J. Trump issued a health care executive order (EO) focusing on protecting people with preexisting […]

Constitutional Nit Picking

(Dan here…lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts) by Robert Waldmann Friday, October 02, 2020 Constitutional Nit Picking I object to this sentence in this article by Paul Kane in the Washington Post “In such a scenario, deciding the presidency falls to the House of Representatives, but in a rare twist mandated by the 12th Amendment after the contested […]

“Free-Exercise Protections”

The court is reversing many of the Civil Rights advances and gains (health care, labor protections, and antidiscrimination in public accommodations, etc.) for LGBTQ, women, etc. on the basis that such protections violates a religion’s practices. In essence legal protections for individuals, workers, etc. seeking to engage in ordinary commercial activity are subordinated to a […]

September 29, 2020 – 5 Federal Courts Have Ruled Against the USPS

Prof. Steve Hutkins at Save the Post Office adds information on court rulings. The Postal Service is now 0 and 5 in the eleven lawsuits filed against it as a result of the mail delays caused by the operational changes that went into effect in July. Yesterday two more orders were against the Postal Service. […]

September 28, 2020 Live Blogging USPS New York v Trump

NYU Prof. Steve Hutkins at Save the Post Office More big news: The judge in the New York v Trump case, Emmet G. Sullivan, has granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. His order is here. Much of Sullivan’s order focuses on the Postal Service’s failure to request an advisory opinion from the PRC before embarking changes […]