On Friday MSNBC talking head Touré dropped a commentary casting abortion as a sort of social “safety net” that has saved society from the huge costs of millions and millions of unwanted children. Here’s the problem: What Touré is saying is that it’s ok to kill people who are inconvenient for society. That’s chilling, because…
Auto Markets Trump Government Central Planning
Our federal government has invested a lot of money, and passed a lot of laws, to promote so-called “green” vehicles that run on biofuels or electricity. But, if the Detroit Auto Show is any indication, all that investment hasn’t resulted in those vehicles getting traction in the market: From sport utes to sports cars to…
In The Legislature Today: Property Tax Reforms And Drone Regulation
I posted earlier today about the reduction in the state sales tax proposed by Rep. Rick Becker which will be heard before the House Finance and Tax Committee. Here are some other bills also being heard today: HB1199, introduced by Rep. Jeff Delzer, would require that cities, counties and school districts pass their budget and…
Virginia Joins North Dakota In Proposing Legislation To Protect Against Federal Gun Control
Here in North Dakota, Rep. Roscoe Streyle has introduced HB1183 which would prohibit the use of state resources to enforce any new federal gun control laws. Over in Virginia state legislators are moving forward on a similar bill aimed at accomplishing the same goal. From the Washington Post: Marshall said the measure is meant to…
Guest Post: Supporting HB1456
We celebrate our birthday’s as the time we left our mother’s womb at 9 months of age. But in fact, our lives began a little bit earlier. When you were conceived, your DNA already determined if you would be male or female, what color your hair will be, along with the color of your eyes.…
ND House Tax Committee To Hear Bill Reducing The State Sales Tax
There are a ton of tax proposals being considered by the North Dakota legislature this session. From property taxes to the income tax, there are a lot of ideas floating around about how to give taxpayers at least some of their money back out of the windfall in revenues the state government is enjoying. Today…
North Dakotans Aren't Asking The Right Questions About Supposed Property Tax Relief
I was happy to see this headline run in the Fargo Forum today. It’s gratifying to see skepticism of the state buy-downs of local spending we’ve been calling “property tax relief.” There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical. Heck, there are a lot of reasons to believe it isn’t really tax relief at…
America Has So Many Environmental Regulations They Can't Even Be Counted
Yesterday I wrote about modern Luddites who argue that America’s economy is suffer because too many laborers are being replaced by technology. Which doesn’t make any sense. Should we go back to farming with horses because that was more labor-intensive and employed more people on farms? Rather, I argued that America isn’t being held back…
North Dakota Student Loan Debt Has Increased 125% At NDSU, UND
According to the Grand Forks Herald, student loan debt accumulation has increased dramatically over the last decade: In the 2010-2012 school year, undergraduate and graduate students at UND and North Dakota State University borrowed an average of $7,855 in a year, according to the university system report released Friday. That’s up 125 percent over the…
ND Legislature Hall Of Shame Week 3: Rep. Bob Skarphol
This week’s Hall of Shame honoree is Rep. Bob Skarphol of Tioga. Skarphol is the sponsor of HB1189, which would seek to target out-of-state drivers with larger speeding fines than in-state drivers while rewarding law enforcement agencies who target out-of-state drivers over in-state drivers with the revenues from the tickets they write. Here’s the text:…