Antony Davies and James Harrigan stories
Antony Davies: Pa.’s alcohol monopoly — we told you so
Defenders of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) fought for decades against alcohol privatization efforts. Principal among these was Wendell Young IV, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits Council — the union that represents state store workers. Despite numerous studies and polls to the...
Antony Davies and James Harrigan: Lessons from skateboarders’ civil disobedience
Pittsburgh Public Works Director Mike Gable made quite a splash recently when he ordered that the West Penn Skate Park in Polish Hill be filled with sand. He did this in reaction to people’s desire to use the skate park for its actual purpose: skateboarding. Speaking of the young people...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Making trade-offs during covid-19 crisis
Last week’s initial jobless claims, which tally up the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time, were horrifying. The numbers present bad news and worse news. But if we can see through the devastating haze that is our economy, there might be some good news on...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: ‘Price gouging’ during crisis a good thing
America is officially in a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic. As conditions rapidly change, medical experts are unable to provide answers to every question citizens will have. But non-experts should be able to answer this basic question: “Should there be a nationwide shortage of toilet paper because of this?”...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Compelled pledge is unconstitutional
A 16-year-old junior at Lebanon High School in Eastern Pennsylvania is suing his school district in federal court claiming his civil rights have been violated. As is the case across much of the country, everything at Lebanon High comes to a standstill for a minute or so every day as...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Congress has no constitutional authority on alcohol, drugs
One hundred years ago, on Jan. 17, 1920, when the 18th Amendment came into force, it became illegal to manufacture, transport or sell alcohol within the United States. Prohibition was a profoundly bad idea, but even had it been worthwhile, it was nearly impossible to enforce. People wanted alcohol regardless...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: On impeachment, constitutional arguments just politics
President Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives before the new year. Predictably, House Democrats have lined up in nearly universal assent that they have no choice but to impeach the president, and do so with heavy hearts. Their Republican counterparts, on the other hand, claim the Democrats...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Let markets solve health care crisis
The presidential election is just about a year away, and we are already being subjected to a steady diet of politicians telling us what we need to do to fix the health care industry. Their rallying cry is familiar: We cannot allow “unfettered capitalism” to “deny us access” to health...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: PLCB not the way to go for marijuana
Gov. Tom Wolf recently came out in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania, and legislative support followed quickly in the form of House Bill 1899, introduced by Rep. David Delloso of Delaware County. The bill would legalize recreational marijuana, but it also calls for expunging marijuana possession convictions from...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Wolf should reform schools parents don’t choose
Last month, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that he would be undertaking “comprehensive charter school reform … (to) level the playing field for all taxpayer-funded public schools, (and) strengthen the accountability and transparency of charter and cybercharter schools.” At the heart of his announcement lie two assertions: first, that charter schools...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Balancing gun rights, preventing harm
Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang broke down in tears last week while discussing gun violence at a town hall in Iowa. Elizabeth Warren announced that she intends to reduce gun violence in this country by 80%. Her plan includes background checks (these are already required), revoking gun licenses for gun dealers...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Tech companies are watching; do we care?
Google Assistant records conversations, and now those recordings have been leaked to the public. Is anyone really surprised? Judging by Google’s stock price, the answer is a resounding “no.” Consumers introduced listening devices into their homes, and they seem relatively blasé now that humans on the other ends of those...
Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan: View political promises with healthy skepticism
Fewer than 18 months stand between us and the next presidential election, and politicians are tripping over each other to offer voters more “free” things, including everything from health care to college to a guaranteed basic income. But voters should be fostering a healthy sense of skepticism. If there is...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Peduto’s equity office more business as usual
Mayor Bill Peduto is rebranding the city’s Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment. It will henceforth be known as the Office of Equity, and will be headed by a chief equity officer. This sounds all well and good, but raises a number of questions, not the least of which is what kinds...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Pittsburgh gun ban just political advertising
Most people know that politicians of all stripes are rarely sincere. Case in point: the Pittsburgh City Council’s recent industrial-strength gun-control nonsense. This law was so tempting to those who posture for a living that even Mayor Bill Peduto and Gov. Tom Wolf had to get in on the act....
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Good policy, not posturing, can help poor
Politicians spend a lot of time talking about helping the poor. But the politicians who truly care about the poor are more concerned with policy outcomes than posturing for the cameras. Posturing might gain votes, but it often ends up doing more harm than good. It was thus a pleasant...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Minimum-wage myths
Gov. Tom Wolf has put Pennsylvania’s minimum wage front and center in the news again, as he tries to raise it to $12 an hour. This is music to the ears of people earning $7.25 an hour, but it won’t be a happy tune for everyone. Politicians would rather you...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Peduto, council should learn facts on gun violence
There are few forces as pernicious as politicians who feel the need to “do something,” but that’s what we have in Pittsburgh in the wake of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. Predictably, Pittsburgh’s mayor and city council have endorsed various restrictions on semi-automatic weapons. This is nothing but political...
