Review: Why Are Federal Buildings So Ugly?
Our capital's brutalist architecture is on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
D.C.
Pastor Criminally Charged With Zoning Violations Gets His Day in Court
Plus: New York City moves forward on zoning reforms, Utah city moves backward on granny flats, and D.C. considers a ban on landlords' pit bull bans.
Massachusetts Voters Protect the Right To Work for Tips
The tug-of-war over what role the government should play in regulating compensation for tipped workers has subverted typical partisan lines.
A D.C. Cocktail Bar Takes on Taboos
"The more you tell people they can't have something, the more they want it."
Kamala Harris Says She Owns a Handgun—Despite Fighting To Ban Others From Doing the Same
Journalists should be interested in interrogating this contradiction, should the 2024 presidential candidate continue giving interviews.
D.C.'s COVID-Era Eviction Policies Come Back To Bite
Plus: Massachusetts NIMBYs get their day in court, Pittsburgh one-step forward, two-steps back approach to zoning reform, and a surprisingly housing-heavy VP debate.
Police Cannot Seize Property Indefinitely After an Arrest, Federal Court Rules
Many circuit courts have said that law enforcement can hold your property for as long as they want. D.C.’s high court decided last week that’s unconstitutional.
The 'Pro-Worker' GOP Is Anti-Worker
The New Right talks a big populist game, but their policies hurt the people they're supposed to help.
The Best of Reason: What Caused the D.C. Crime Wave?
Don't blame criminal justice reform or a lack of social spending for D.C.'s crime spike. Blame government mismanagement.
Ketanji Brown Jackson Joins Conservative Justices in Upending Hundreds of January 6 Cases
Her concurrence is a reminder that the application of criminal law should not be infected by personal animus toward any given defendant.
The Supreme Court May Be on the Brink of Radically Restricting Bureaucrats' Power
Chevron deference, a doctrine created by the Court in 1984, gives federal agencies wide latitude in interpreting the meaning of various laws. But the justices may overturn that.
What Caused the D.C. Crime Wave?
Don't blame criminal justice reform or a lack of social spending for D.C.'s crime spike. Blame government mismanagement.
D.C.'s Rules for Subway Ads Are Blocked in Federal Court
The transit authority was sued after rejecting an ad that directed viewers to go to a website "to find out about the faith of our founders."
New York and New Jersey Want To Let Felons Serve on Juries. Here's Why.
Bans have resulted in what some have called the "whitewashing" of American juries.
A New Law Is Making It Even Harder To Find Day Care in D.C.
D.C.'s new degree requirements could lead to job losses, increased operating costs, and higher tuition.
Trump Promised To 'Drain the Swamp.' He Did the Opposite.
Total spending under Trump nearly doubled. New programs filled Washington with more bureaucrats.
Murder Rates Are Plummeting. What Should We Make of It?
In data from over 200 cities, homicides are down a little over 19 percent when compared to a similar time frame in 2023.
Does Uncle Sam Consider Your Backyard Restricted Airspace?
The areas where you need FAA approval to fly a model plane or drone are surprisingly large.
Peter Moskos: What Does Good Policing Look Like?
Peter Moskos, criminal justice professor and former Baltimore police officer, discusses ways to reform policing and turn failing cities around on the latest Just Asking Questions podcast.
Supreme Court Tells Texas to Hold On
Plus: More reactions to the Supreme Court's other decision in the Trump ballot disqualification case, D.C.'s continued minimum wage confusion, California's primary elections, and more...
Millionaire Mars Missions
Plus: Republicans are trying to expand a tax deduction they once wanted to cap, a "shocking" and "stunning" January jobs report, and street blocking protestors in D.C.
No, Blocking Traffic Is Not Protected by the First Amendment
The freedom to protest is essential to the American project. It also does not give you carte blanche to violate other laws.
Welfare Is Great—for the Welfare Bureaucrats
The clients get a confusing maze and a lot of incentives to stay on welfare.
The Real Scandal in Washington Is the Government's Reckless Spending
Those sounding the loudest alarms about possible shutdowns are largely silent when Congress ignores its own budgetary rules. All that seems to matter is that government is metaphorically funded.
Court Rules in Favor of Pro-Life Protesters Arrested for Chalk Messages
While chalking on D.C. sidewalks and streets is illegal, the protesters say they were targeted for their beliefs.
The U.S. Credit Rating Just Dropped. It's Time for Radical Budget Reform.
The lack of oversight and the general absence of a long-term vision is creating inefficiency, waste, and red ink as far as the eye can see.
Do D.C. and Rhode Island Really Need $200 Million for Broadband Access?
How not to distribute federal funds
Transit Agencies Demand Taxpayer Subsidies To Stave Off 'Death Spirals.' There's a Better Way.
Service cuts that reflect falling demand and zoning reforms that bring more fare-paying residents back to cities could shore up transit agencies' budgets.
As Rail Riders Disappear, the Feds Want To Spend $8.8 Billion Expanding a Rail Station
The rail lines servicing Washington, D.C.'s Union Station are carrying as little as a quarter of their pre-pandemic ridership. Officials still want to triple the station's capacity.
Review: National Shrine Celebrates St. John Paul II as a Freedom Fighter
Too few remember the pope's opposition to Polish building regulation.
D.C. Smoke Shop Owner: 'I Know I'm Doing the Right Thing.'
Thanks to the city's Initiative 71, Lit City Smoke Shop is part of D.C.'s thriving weed-gifting industry.
A 'Congestion' Charge on Just Ubers and Lyfts Won't Improve Congestion
A proposal to charge rideshare vehicles $2 to enter D.C.'s downtown during the day will probably reduce Uber and Lyft rides. But we shouldn't expect it to reduce overall traffic volumes.
D.C.'s Test Scores and Absenteeism Rates Are Getting Worse, so Why Are More Students Graduating?
When "graduation becomes close to a virtual guarantee, it also becomes pretty functionally meaningless," says one education researcher.
Biden's New Budget Would Hike Taxes and Wage Class Warfare
The higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs could slow growth. Less opportunity means more tribalism and division.
America Needs a Better Kind of Capitalism
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
Biden Embraces the Fearmongering, Vows To Squash D.C.'s Mild Criminal Justice Reforms
In rebuking the legislation, the president showed that he may not know what's in it.
The End of a Weed Paradise
D.C. is destroying its thriving cannabis industry with bureaucracy and red tape.
'Working Class' Reps Say They Can't Afford D.C. Rents While Earning $174,000 a Year
Progressive politicians are irritated they have to make the same tradeoffs in their living situation as other high-income professionals.
Review: D.C.'s Planet Word Museum Celebrates Language
Libertarians should recognize language as a quintessential example of spontaneous order.
By Abolishing Fares, Big Cities Embrace Transit's Death Spiral
Transit officials and transit-boosting politicians in D.C., L.A., and New York City are warming to the idea of being totally dependent on taxpayer subsidies.
Pandemic Repairs Were Supposed To Put D.C. Metro Back on Track. Then It Literally Went Off the Rails.
Putting the district's train system back on track will take more than better bureaucracy.
After 12 Years of False Starts, D.C. Metro Once Again Plots Return of Automated Trains
WMATA suspended automated train operations after the deadly 2009 Fort Totten crash. Perennial efforts to bring them back over the past decade have repeatedly fallen through.
D.C.'s 'Green New Deal for Housing' Is Doomed Before It Begins
Social housing supporters hope that the city can get city-owned, city-operated housing right with a new office, a more expansive mission, and different branding.
D.C. Rehired Cops and Paid Them $14 Million in Back Pay.
Out of 37 officers who were terminated and later reinstated, 17 had committed acts deemed a "threat to safety."
New Report Reveals Uninhabitable Units, Shocking Incompetence at D.C. Public Housing Authority
D.C officials are calling for sweeping reforms to D.C. Housing Authority's governance, or even a federal takeover, in the wake of a damning new report.
D.C. Zoning Officials Prepare a 'Racial Equity Tool' To Guide Zoning Decisions
Local YIMBY advocates express concern that the tool, as written, is overly vague and could be exploited to stop development.
D.C.'s Preschool Teacher Education Requirement Won't Help Working Families
Even if credentialed teachers help kids learn more, it’s not worth making D.C. day cares prohibitively expensive and pushing experienced teachers out of jobs.
Selling a Home? The D.C. Down Payment Assistance Program Will Give You Up to $202,000.
The city's expanded down payment assistance program is a recipe for increasing home prices.
