Political gamemanship over the 2020 census
Politicians have ulterior motives for everything. The Trump administration is no different. Published April 4, 2018
Bruce Fein
Articles by Bruce Fein
Bolton appointment should jolt Congress into action
President Donald Trump's appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser effective April 9, 2018, should provoke a statute requiring Senate confirmation. Published March 30, 2018
Elon Musk's Hyperloop Tunnel vision
Elon Musk is more like "The Music Man" con artist Professor Harold Hill than inventive genius Thomas Edison. As Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, "There is no there there." Published March 28, 2018
When personnel is policy
When President Andrew Jackson failed to convince his Secretary of Treasury William Duane to withdraw funds from the hated Second Bank of the United States to deposit in private institutions, he fired him in favor of Attorney General Roger B. Taney, who did the dirty work with alacrity. Published March 16, 2018
Luddites never die
There are always drum majors for the status quo. They are status quo beneficiaries who would lose by change. They fight technological innovation or invention that would benefit society handsomely. Published March 5, 2018
Let government money compete with cryptocurrencies
Like truth, the best test of a cryptocurrency should be its ability to get itself accepted in the competition of the marketplace. Published February 6, 2018
Is bad science brewing with your coffee?
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 as a research agency focused on the study of worker safety and health. Published February 2, 2018
U.S. v. Microsoft: It's the right to privacy, stupid
The U.S. Supreme Court should strengthen the keystone of our Republic in the pending case of United States v. Microsoft: namely, the right to be let alone by government -- "the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men," according to Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Published January 22, 2018
When political principles are like restricted railroad tickets
With the zeal of proponents of the Prohibition Amendment, four Republican House members wrote a letter on Dec. 19 to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein protesting an interpretation of the Wire Act by the Office of Legal Counsel that lets State jurisdictions decide whether to permit Internet gambling within their borders. Published January 12, 2018
Trump civil rights nominee Kenneth Marcus assails freedom of speech
There may be more unfit nominees than Kenneth Marcus to head the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, but if there are, they do not readily come to mind. Published December 28, 2017
Why Trump should testify
President Trump holds the keys to ending with dispatch Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of links between the Russian government and his presidential campaign.President Trump holds the keys to ending with dispatch Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of links between the Russian government and his presidential campaign. Published December 26, 2017
FISA section 702: Repeal or scale back
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) cheerleads for the 17 agencies which comprise the intelligence community. Published December 20, 2017
Reassert constitutional war powers
Something is rotten in the state of the U.S. Constitution's war powers and the constitutionally prescribed processes for making foreign policy. Since at least the 1950 Korean War, Congress has meekly surrendered them to the president despite the disastrous results. Published December 18, 2017
Bill Ackman's Edsel
Ford Motor Co. had its Edsel, Samsung had its Galaxy Note 7, and Pershing Square hedge fund manager William Ackman has his $1 billion short bet against Herbalife Nutrition. Mr. Ackman should take a lesson from the Prodigal Son and ask forgiveness. Published December 13, 2017
Trump parrots Obama's enthusiasm for one-branch government
President Donald Trump, acting through Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and scorning the Republican-controlled Congress, is expected to unilaterally diminish national monument designations of his predecessor issued under the Antiquities Act of 1906. He seems to be targeting Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Published December 1, 2017
Be alarmed at first experiment with our liberties
Last week, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Missouri Democrat, added an amendment to the euphemistically styled "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" that would deny pharmaceutical companies full immediate expensing of truthful prescription drug advertising protected by the First Amendment. Published November 27, 2017
Tax reform: Roll back preferential capital gains tax for carried interest
Tax reform, like a woman, must be courted, not taken by storm. Published November 13, 2017
Lawmakers' CPFB repeal worthy of (some) applause
Congress deserves applause for repealing an obtuse rule prohibiting agreements requiring arbitration to resolve consumer finance disputes issued by the Consumer Protection Finance Board (CPFB). The rule's chief beneficiaries were trial lawyers, not bank customers. Published November 13, 2017
Senate's NSA bill would roll back warrantless surveillance
A bill sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, and Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, would begin to roll back warrantless encroachments on our international communications privacy authorized by section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments of 2008. Published October 31, 2017
EPA's ethanol stupidity
Former German Prime Minister Konrad Adenauer was right: "In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity." Published October 20, 2017
