As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, many governments are imposing (or reimposing) mandates, lockdowns, and in general, restrictions on business activity and personal behavior. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has stood (mostly) firm in opposing government mandates.

By now, most readers will be familiar with Representative Nancy Pelosi’s visit to a hair salon last week, in violation of San Francisco’s pandemic-generated rules prohibiting the operation of indoor salons. Lloyd Billingsley has discussed the situation in a post on The Beacon. Representative Pelosi says it was a setup, and believes she is...
Read More »

I’ll admit to being a fan of college football, and have followed with interest the debates on whether to hold games this fall. Some conferences, such as the Big Ten and the Pac-12, have already canceled their seasons, while others appear to be ready to play. There are many issues to consider, but a...
Read More »

Americans in many states are protesting the government mandates that require people to “shelter in place,” prohibit traveling, and shut down businesses. The issue is being framed as a trade-off between health concerns related to a very contagious virus and the economic costs resulting from the government-mandated shut-down of much of the economy –...
Read More »

Florida’s previous policy of giving discretion to local governments was more sensible.

As a San Francisco resident and business owner, I’m wondering—can I trust the health judgments of leaders who let thousands live on the streets in their own filth? And if we are now getting the homeless into shelter, why couldn’t that have happened earlier? Doesn’t their health count? All of a sudden, we are...
Read More »

In 2019, the Transportation Security Administration seized $181,000 in cash from an employee of a Tampa trucking company while he was going through a TSA checkpoint for a flight from Tampa to Cleveland. According to the employee and his employer, the worker was taking the cash to Cleveland to buy second-hand trucks for his...
Read More »

My hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, has the highest crime rate of any city in Florida and is plagued with gun violence. Why? The headline of this article says, “Pot dealers blamed for local gun violence.” Larry Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District in Florida, is quoted in the article as saying “the vast...
Read More »

How was the fundamental principle of American government transformed from liberty to democracy?

Almost two centuries ago Tocqueville observed that the “political world is metamorphosed [and] new remedies must henceforth be sought for new disorders.”