Congress’ Confidence Level, Attorneys General Gone Wild and Liberating Wine Sales
1. POLITICS
A recent poll found that only 11% of Americans have confidence in Congress.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct fellow Fran Smith goes over the data, and cites some surprising statistics about the public’s confidence in political and economic institutions.
“With these kinds of polling results, the Dems are right to be running scared. Their big ‘successes’ – ramming through an inchoate health ‘reform’ bill and banking legislation that threatens to bury banks and their would-be customers in red tape – don’t sound like they’re going to get a lot of support among their constituents.”
2. LEGAL
CEI releases a report on America’s worst state attorneys general.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on the 5 worst, and how they got there.
“California’s Jerry Brown tops the list, for repeatedly refusing to defend state laws he disliked. One example was a state constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage (but not civil unions) passed by voters as Proposition 8. This constitutional provision was upheld by the state Supreme Court, which rejected Brown’s argument that it violated the state constitution. I personally opposed Prop. 8, but it’s clear, by definition, that a state constitutional provision cannot violate the very constitution of which it is a part; and it’s the most basic duty of an attorney general to defend state laws, whether or not he likes them.”
3. BUSINESS
New York State, desperately looking for ways to raise revenue, considers deregulating wine sales.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk and Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini makes the case for allowing the sale of wine and spirits in supermarkets.
“Silly bans against selling wine or spirits at the supermarket are not really designed to address alcohol abuse, underage drinking, or the like. They exist to serve special interests, be they government agencies or liquor stores those agencies have essentially granted monopolies.”