In Defense of COVID Billionaires
Billionaires may well have enabled our greatest (only?) policy successes in 2020.
Health
In a Last-Minute Reversal, HHS Voids FDA Fees on Distillers Who Produced Emergency Hand Sanitizer
Thanks to coverage at Reason and pushback from the industry, the federal government voided $14,000 fees on do-gooder craft distillers just in time for the new year.
Victim-Blaming During a Pandemic Doesn't Make People Safer
The incessant urge to make COVID-19 infection a morality play is corroding our humanity and distracting us from solutions.
Eviction Moratoriums Are Transforming From Emergency Stopgaps to Permanent Programs
A growing number of states are enshrining eviction moratoriums into laws that won't expire until well into next year.
New COVID-19 Strain and Bungled Vaccine Rollout Threaten the 'Return to Normal' in 2021
Plus: Josh Hawley rejects reality (again), Florida's still trying to bust Robert Kraft for getting a hand job, distilleries' good deeds get punished, and more...
When There Wasn't Enough Hand Sanitizer, Distilleries Stepped Up. Now They're Facing $14,060 FDA Fees.
Distilleries just learned that to cap off a brutal year, the FDA is charging them a fee normally reserved for drug manufacturing facilities.
Charles Wininger: Why We Should Listen To Ecstasy and Other Psychedelics
A 71-year-old therapist comes out of the "chemical closet" to promote MDMA as a means of self-discovery
Immunity Passports May Liberate Us From Lockdowns or Invite New Privacy Invasions
The idea is looking less like a Get Out of Jail Free card and more like a hall pass.
The Government Isn't About To Tell You To Stop Drinking Now
Plus: Operation Warp Speed is off to a slow start, Trump's school choice order, and more...
COVID-19 Herd Immunity Is Possible Before Spring If the FDA Gets Out of the Way
The government must move quickly to approve a one-dose regimen for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
The U.K. Uses COVID-19 to Justify More Nanny State Junk Food Crackdowns
Bans on ads, displays, refills, and buy-one-get-one-free offers
The Year Teachers Unions Killed the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
The United States was virtually alone in keeping schools closed this fall. As a result, public education—and cities—may never look the same.
Democrats Push $2,000 'Survival Checks' to Make Up for the 'Woefully Inadequate' $5 Trillion Federal Relief Effort
Progressives want to spend an additional $435 billion to help people who've lost neither jobs nor income weather the pandemic.
The More Transmissible U.K. COVID-19 Variant Could Make the Pandemic a Lot Worse
Ramp up the vaccinations now!
What Did We Learn in 2020?
Pandemics are like margin calls, exposing in a moment the pre-existing weakness of various positions and institutions.
The CDC's Rules Let Teachers, Lawyers, Media Jump to the Front of the COVID Vaccine Line
It turns out that there is a mechanism in capitalism for allocating scarce goods. It is called a "price."
Newly Recorded COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Are Falling in the U.S.
It's not clear how long those hopeful trends will continue.
Is Anthony Fauci Right That Federalism Undermined the U.S. Response to COVID-19?
Centralization makes sense only if you ignore differences in local conditions—and trust the feds to make the right choices.
Surrendering on COVID Spending Is a Predictable, Fitting End for Trump's Tenure
One of the underappreciated failures of the Trump presidency is his squandering of an incredibly rare opportunity to reset how Washington operates.
2020: An Awful Year With a Legacy We Won't Soon Escape
Fortunately, 2020 is nearly at an end. Unfortunately, its events will leave one hell of a mark on the years to come.
Trump Gets None of His Demands in the Spending Bill but Signs It Into Law Anyway
Plus: Europeans are just as inclined toward "conspiracy thinking" as Americans, D.C. decriminalizes "drug paraphernalia," and more...
'We're Not Doing Anything Wrong': This Pennsylvania Brewery Refuses To Obey State's Indoor Dining Ban
And it isn't alone. Pennsylvania has banned indoor dining through the end of the year, but dozens of businesses are banding together to defy the mandate.
Sally Satel: The Secret History of the Opioid Epidemic
The story of why pain relievers took root in Appalachia begins decades before the introduction of OxyContin.
Trump Administration Should Immediately Launch an Operation Warp Speed for COVID-19 Testing
It would be the best thing to do with the $22.4 billion Congress allocated for COVID-19 testing
Employed, Middle Class Americans Don't Need More 'Free' Stimulus Money
But they're almost certainly going to get some.
Lindsey Graham Says Trump Will Sign Spending Bill if It Takes Aim at Section 230
Plus: One in seven NYC chain stores closed, Columbus officers turned off body cams before fatal shooting, and more....
Americans Are Sick of Arbitrary COVID-19 Restrictions
A year into the pandemic, politicians still have not digested the dangers of careless public health measures.
Trump Threatens to Sink COVID-19 Relief Bill Unless Congress Cuts Wasteful Spending, Spends More on $2,000 Stimulus Checks
"It truly is a disgrace," said Trump.
COVID Relief Bill Includes $25 Billion in Rental Assistance, 1-Month Extension of the CDC's Eviction Moratorium
Congress' extension of a federal ban on evictions does little to address the legal problems with the policy.
Congress Legalizes Smokey Bear Impersonations
The $2.3 trillion spending bill repeals criminal penalties for using Smokey Bear's likeness without government permission.
Congress Blocks School Choice in New Stimulus Package
Even as the pandemic has exposed the desperate need for disruptions to the calcified public school system, Congress just voted to restrict some of the very creativity that's sorely needed.
Therapist Elizabeth Brokamp Fights for the Right To See Patients Virtually
"I hope my case can start removing senseless boundaries to teletherapy," said Brokamp, who is suing in federal court on First Amendment grounds.
Mother Has Son Tested for Covid-19, Gets Threatened with Contempt of Court
The latest from Geauga County Judge Timothy Grendell
Giant New Spending and COVID-19 Relief Bill Also Creates 2 New Museums and a Library, References Dalai Lama Controversy
"No responsible legislator should vote for such a thing," said Justin Amash (L–Mich.).
Government by 'Harrison Bergeron'
From pandemic relief to public schools, wealth taxes to COVID vaccines, politicians are finding bad ways to redistribute the pie.
Has Restaurants' Role in Spreading COVID-19 Been Exaggerated?
The evidence is limited and mixed, but data from New York, Minnesota, and California suggest that restaurants there account for a small share of infections.
Study: Prison COVID-19 Spread Led to Hundreds of Thousands of Community Infections
Thanks to poor management and massive rates of incarceration, people are dying both inside and outside prisons.
ICE Deports Guinean Immigrant Before He Can Testify in Jail Abuse Lawsuit
Mory Keita was involved in two cases against the government, including an ACLU suit challenging ICE and a case alleging abuse by Butler County Jail guards.
Deal Reached To Tack $900 Billion COVID-19 Relief Package on to Spending Bill
Plus: 1 in 5 prisoners has had COVID-19, Supreme Court won't stop undocumented immigrant exclusion from Census, and more...
Should We End the Lockdowns? A Soho Forum Debate
Harvard's Martin Kulldorff vs. Andrew Noymer of UC Irvine
To Mitigate Racial Inequity, the CDC Wants To Vaccinate Essential Workers Before the Elderly
Vaccinating by age would save many more lives.
What a Frozen Cherry Pie Says About FDA Regulatory Foot-Dragging
It took 15 years for the agency to decide that consumers didn’t actually need to be protected from the threat of substandard fruit desserts.
California Judge Blocks Enforcement of State and Local Bans on Restaurant Dining in San Diego County
The decision says the government failed to present any evidence of virus transmission in restaurants that follow COVID-19 precautions.
Why Use Two Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines When One Works Almost as Well?
We could double the number of Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
