If undue influence in politics piques your interest, then the recent Los Angeles County elections should have raised both your eyebrows. Outside special interest groups spent almost $4 million supporting the candidates’ electoral bids — and over three-quarters of that total came from the region’s labor unions.
2:54 PM 01/23/2013
Hilda Solis’ term as secretary of labor is one for the books. She will be remembered as the secretary who declared herself the labor movement’s “loyal servant” — and then acted in lock-step with labor leaders.
3:07 PM 12/24/2012
’Tis the season — at least for strikes. Over the past few months, we’ve witnessed the death of Hostess and its Twinkie (until someone buys the brand), a teacher strike in Chicago, a Thanksgiving Eve strike at Los Angeles International Airport, failed union walkouts at Wal-Mart and New York City’s fast food restaurants, and an eight-day, $8 billion strike at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California.
12:29 PM 12/13/2012
This has been the year of personal freedom. In 2012, voters across the country consistently reaffirmed their desire to see individual choice trump institutional power. In November, Michigan voters rejected the enshrinement of collective bargaining in the state’s constitution. In Colorado and Washington, they demanded the right to decide for themselves about marijuana use. In other states, the people demanded the right to define marriage for themselves apart from religious doctrine or the authority of the state.
4:51 PM 08/31/2012
You've heard this anecdote: A boy shoots his parents dead. At his sentencing hearing, he begs the judge for mercy: “I’m an orphan, Your Honor.”
2:21 PM 08/14/2012
The congressional “watchdog” and supposedly nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) should put a disclaimer on its website saying that it doesn’t hold itself to the standards it espouses. In fact, the only accurate part of its name is “Washington.”
3:33 PM 04/21/2012
On Earth Day, we’ll hear all kinds of ideas on how to improve the environment, from the small (recycle that bottle!) to the big (get off oil!). And, no doubt, we’ll hear a few about how we need to change what we eat to improve the planet.
12:03 AM 04/02/2012
If you read the news regularly, chances are you’ve seen stories over the past two weeks about how so-called “pink slime” is infiltrating school cafeterias across America. So what is it, exactly? And what’s the big deal with it?
1:47 PM 03/20/2012
Richard Kahlenberg and Moshez Marvit’s new book, “Why Labor Organizing Should be a Civil Right,” has ignited a debate on the important issue of labor reform. Yet Kahlenberg and Marvit miss the mark when it comes to expanding employee rights. Effective, well-thought-out labor reform would empower unionized employees to make more decisions about how their dues are spent and when to strike, and would give those employees the ability to choose whether or not to remain unionized.
10:52 PM 03/18/2012
“Red meat blamed for 1 in 10 early deaths,” blared the Drudge Report last week. The linked news article referred to a study by Harvard scientists finding that unprocessed red meat and processed meat like bacon and hot dogs are linked to a higher risk of mortality.
12:53 AM 03/05/2012
We’ve all heard the media mantra that “sex sells.” So does sensationalism. And it’s abused regularly by agenda-driven groups who want to indoctrinate us with their view that one food or another is harmful and in need of government control.
12:54 PM 02/20/2012
“Spread of soda tax fizzles,” read a headline last week on authoritative state politics website Stateline. We shouldn’t pop the champagne cork just yet, though. Anti-sugar activists are still gunning for soft drinks.
10:11 AM 02/06/2012
When you think of things that are toxic to people, what comes to mind? Drano? Gasoline? Arsenic?
11:04 AM 01/23/2012
According to researchers at Columbia University and the University of California-San Francisco, a penny-per-ounce tax on soft drinks (that’s 12 cents a can) would save 26,000 lives over ten years. That’s just the ammo that the nation’s self-anointed food police are looking for as they push for soda taxes in recently reconvened state legislatures.
11:13 PM 01/08/2012
Recently at The Daily Caller, Wesley Smith aptly exposed the goal of the eco-fringe to codify legal rights for Mother Nature. There’s an equal and more urgent threat to our legal system, coming from a common ally of the environmental movement: Animal rights activists.
12:38 PM 12/26/2011
Yesterday, millions of families celebrated the spirit of Christmas (excuse me, “the holidays”). But I suspect that a few folks, such as activists who want to control what we eat and drink, found some coal in their stockings. Figuratively, of course.
11:11 PM 12/11/2011
Despite its small stature, Denmark has greatly influenced American breakfasts with its deliciously buttery and flaky Danishes. Unfortunately, its latest potential export isn’t so savory: the world’s first “fat tax.”
11:29 PM 11/20/2011
It’s Thanksgiving time again, so we can count on a few things: Bad traffic, awful airports, the vast majority of Americans enjoying the holiday and stuffing themselves, and a small but vocal cabal of malcontents trying to ruin it for everyone else.
11:11 PM 11/06/2011
Is your 4G smartphone only operating at 3G speed? Is your high-definition screen only 720p? Is your hot tub not quite hot enough? Is it a really long walk to your farmers market?
11:16 PM 10/23/2011
Hundreds of events around the country today will celebrate “Food Day,” a relic of the 1970s that petered out --- presumably --- because it was irrelevant. Judging from this year’s lineup, we should hope this encore is a one-time precursor to extinction.
