Welcome to Fixing California, a re-booted version of the Crossing Lines podcast with Lanhee Chen. In this new series, Lanhee and Troy Senik (and occasionally, some guests) will be placing the Golden State under a microscope and offering up actual solutions to the many issues facing the country’s biggest state. This week, Lanhee and Troy look at the coming recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom. What caused it (spoiler alert: decades long single party rule), how it might play out, and what the long term implications it may have for the state and possibly for the country. Also, the coming scandal at the California EDD (Employment Development Department) involving huge amounts of money, including large amounts of money that went into the pockets of (not kidding) prisoners in the California penal system.
Richard Epstein analyzes the Biden Administration’s sweeping infrastructure proposal, including its attempts to redefine transfer payments as vital public investments, its push for widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and its suggestion that corporations should be subject to a global minimum tax.
Professors Epstein and Yoo both have new digs, but they’re still bringing the same searing legal analysis. On this episode: can Democrats really unseat a Republican House member? What’s the fight about voting rights really about? Can accepting COVID stimulus money prevent states from cutting taxes? Is it time to revisit Supreme Court precedent on slander (John’s old boss thinks so)? All that plus we get a tour of the professors’ bookshelves, learn a little about Wyoming history, and answer a letter from an aspiring young lawyer.
Richard Epstein analyzes Cedar Point Nursery v. Hasid, a case recently argued before the Supreme Court on whether labor unions should be allowed onto private land against the owners’ will. Along the way, he provides a masterclass in private property law, a look at the development of special legal protections for organized labor, and a reflection on how his legendary book Takings changed the debate over private property rights.
Victor Davis Hanson looks at how many of the most important stories of the last several years — from the Russian collusion charges to the COVID epidemic to the Capital riot to the Biden Administration’s handling of immigration — have been distorted by progressives in government and media until the public can barely decipher the truth anymore.
This week, Ricochet editor and podcaster to the stars Troy Senik stops by to talk about his new venture, Kite and Key Media, which produces explainers about issues in the news. So you could argue that this show is an explainer about explainers, but we are not going to be that meta. We also delve into the news of the day, including good governors and bad, what the heck is going on with President Biden, and some speculation on where the Republican party and the Conservative movement might be headed. Yes, we were supposed to have another guest this week, but that didn’t work out (maybe next week), so thanks to Troy for hanging out with us. Please return the favor by frequenting his new site?
Music from this week’s show: For The Benefit of Mr. Kite by The Beatles
The COVID pandemic brought sweeping change to America’s rental housing markets: widespread restrictions or outright prohibitions on evicting tenants. Are such policies effective? Are they constitutional? And from whence does a presidential or gubernatorial administration get such powers? Plus, how should we analyze claims that eviction rates demonstrate systemic racism at work? All that and more on a new episode of The Libertarian.
Victor Davis Hanson considers the Republican Party’s future as it deals with the long shadow cast by the presidency of Donald Trump. Should the GOP embrace a Trump comeback? Or should it attempt to find a new standard-bearer who can blend the Trump agenda with a different sensibility? And what’s the one issue to which VDH thinks the GOP hasn’t paid nearly enough attention? Tune in to find out.
Richard Epstein describes why immigration policy is fraught with complicated trade-offs that make hard-line positions — whether on the restrictionist side or the open-borders side — inappropriate. Along the way, he ventures into the debates over which criteria America should use to admit new immigrants, the effect of low-wage immigrants on American labor, whether it’s inconsistent to support free trade without supporting open borders, and why America has been so successful at assimilating immigrants from different races and cultures.
Victor Davis Hanson explores how military history can illuminate current foreign policy challenges, delineates which nations pose the greatest threats to the United States, explores the role that human rights should play in international affairs, looks at the changing shape of America’s alliances, and provides a reading list for future commanders-in-chief.
Richard Epstein analyzes the debate around Texas’ cold-weather blackouts. How much of the blame does climate change bear? Is the problem an excessive reliance on renewable energies or a failure to harden infrastructure against extreme weather events? And what do the Biden Administration’s policies mean for the future of grid resiliency?
There’s a party in the faculty lounge, as Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo — along with long-suffering host Troy Senik — celebrate the 10th anniversary of the podcast. A few special guests drop by, but we still have time for all the legal issues of the day: the aftermath of the Trump impeachment, a Texas’ judge’s smackdown of Joe Biden’s immigration policy, efforts to stifle conservative outlets on cable news and social media, and the Supreme Court’s controversial decision not to deal with an election challenge out of Pennsylvania. All that plus a member of the faculty lounge dressed like a Star Trek cast member, a look back on a decade of the show, and a crash course in presidential speeding tickets.
