Featured Article
Suing our Way to Prosperity
By Mike Maurer
In May, I was named the director of the Center for Transparent and Accountable Government at the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a Columbus-based free-market think tank.I felt pretty good about it until one of the presidential candidates came to Columbus and said, "My administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability."
You know if a term shows up in presidential campaigns, which are so determined to eschew base-pleasing principle in favor of some mythical "center," it has been drained of any substantive meaning whatever.
The Politics of Energy
The
Columbus Dispatch reports,
"Pressure from voters for Congress to do something about rising oil
prices has a growing number of Senate Democrats acknowledging that they
would consider lifting a ban on new offshore drilling."
In
The Energy Quaqmire,
Buckeye Institute Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Ken Blackwell
writes, "We need to find more domestic oil and get it. We need more
refining. And we need to aggressively expand alternative energy while
we build dozens of next-generation nuclear reactors. Finally, we need
to create new models of cars that use no petroleum fuels at all. We
need to do all these things starting now. Energy is a major issue, and
could decide this fall's presidential election."
Economic Development via Lawsuit
"Aggressive effort will be placed on legal and regulatory fronts in the attempt to stop the proposed air transport deal between DHL and United Parcel Service (UPS), regional task force members were told Tuesday in their third meeting," according to the Wilmington News Journal.
In Suing our Way to Prosperity, Buckeye Institute Senior Fellow Sam Staley writes, "By making litigation a central part of economic development policy, the state is putting all businesses on notice. There's a new economic sheriff in town, and Ohio businesses better toe the state's economic line - or else. If Ohio businesses don't play according to the state government's rule book, real or perceived, they can expect its attorneys and public officials to play hard ball."
Columbus Comes to its Senses
The Columbus Dispatch reports, "The city of Columbus has dropped its lawsuit against former lead-paint manufacturers after a Rhode Island Supreme Court decision last week shot down the legal argument the city was pursuing."
In
Lead Paint Lawsuit is a
Bad Idea, Buckeye Institute Fellow David Owsiany
writes, "Misusing public nuisance law as a means to shake down paint
companies for selling, what was at the time, a legal product more than
forty years ago, ignores the traditional legal standards for liability,
including proving that a product defect caused a specific harm. Such
litigation also disregards the negligence of owners who failed to
maintain their properties in a reasonable fashion, especially in light
of the well-known threat caused by allowing buildings with lead paint
to deteriorate."
Buckeye Institute in the News
The Columbus Dispatch published Buckeye Institute President David Hansen's letter to the editor on the state income tax.
The Wilmington News Journal and the Hillsboro Times Gazette published Sam Staley's article on the state threatening to sue DHL.
