Antony Davies & James Harrigan Columns category
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...
