PUBLICATIONS BY Andrew M. Grossman
Research
Commentary
2009 Research
October 06, 2009
Another Sarbanes-Oxley: Threatening Small Businesses with the "Beneficial" Ownership Bill
By Hans A. von Spakovsky and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #48)
The Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (ITLEAA)--currently under consideration in Congress--would subject small businesses to a series of complicated and burdensome reporting requirements. These new requirements are reminiscent to those imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley, and would have similarly negative consequences: increased costs and reductions in business activity and job creation. Furthermore, the ITLEAA would do little to actually reduce the use of LLC forms for criminal activity--the purported goal of the legislation.
August 17, 2009
Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens
By Charles Stimson and Andrew Grossman
(Special Report #65)
Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens by Charles D. Stimson and Andrew Grossman looks at the continued viability of the life without parole punishment for the very worst juvenile offenders
July 27, 2009
The Unlikely Orchid Smuggler: A Case Study in Overcriminalization
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #44)
Today, enormously complex and demanding regulations are regularly paired with draconian criminal penalties for even minor deviations from the rules. Minor violations from time to time are all but inevitable because full compliance would be either impossible or impossibly expensive. Nearly every time, nobody notices or cares, but all it takes is one exception for the hammer of the law to strike.
July 13, 2009
The State Secret Protection Act Is Not Like the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA)
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #43)
The proposed State Secret Protection Act would require the disclosure of highly classified information in a variety of contexts, putting at risk the nation’s security and foreign policy.
June 23, 2009
The Enumerated Powers Act: A First Step Toward Constitutional Government
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #41)
The Enumerated Powers Act would be a small step toward reviving the practice of constitutionally limited government. Although it would not stop Congress from passing unwise laws, the Act would empower those Members who take the Constitution seriously to force the House and Senate to at least consider constitutional norms in lawmaking.
June 19, 2009
Patent Proposal Puts Property and Innovation at Risk
By Honorable Thomas C. Feeney and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #40)
The Senate's patent "reform" bill would weaken fundamental principles of patent protection. Specifically, it would introduce uncertainty into all patent rights, diminishing the value of all patents and reducing incentives to innovate and develop new technologies.
June 04, 2009
The State Secret Protection Act: Unnecessary, Unconstitutional, and Undemocratic
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Testimony #9999)
The misnamed State Secret Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 984) is dangerous, in terms of both its effect on national security and the violence it would do to the constitutional separation of powers.
May 22, 2009
Bailouts, Abusive Bankruptcies, And the Rule of Law
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Testimony #9999)
The Obama Administration is abusing bankruptcy law to benefit a favored constituency, the United Auto Workers union. This threatens serious consequences.
May 05, 2009
Not a Zero-Sum Game: Replacing Justice Souter Risks a More Activist Court
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2424)
Justice Souter was no conservative and no originalist, but replacing him with a far-left activist would change the balance of the Court for the worse.
April 27, 2009
Mortgage Cramdowns: Problems with Involving Bankruptcy Judges
By Andrew M. Grossman and David C. John
(WebMemo #2409)
The mortgage cramdown proposal would prolong and worsen the banking crisis, delaying economic recovery.
March 24, 2009
When Art Becomes a Crime: A Case Study in Overcriminalization
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #39)
Prosecutors continue to abuse the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to go after contractual violations, local-government patronage politics, minor regulatory violations, and other conduct that may not warrant civil lawsuits, let alone criminal prosecution. This puts all Americans at risk of criminal punishment for conduct that they have no reason to believe is unlawful.
March 19, 2009
The AIG Clawback: Possibly Unconstitutional, Doubtlessly Imprudent
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2349)
Congress should realize the prudential limits of its powers and competence and take no action against those receiving deferred compensation for work that they have already performed.
March 12, 2009
Ailing Automakers Need Bankruptcy, Not Bankruptcy-Lite
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2342)
If GM and Chrysler are to survive and prosper, they must undergo real reorganization in bankruptcy, not anything less.
February 25, 2009
Combating Libel Tourism: Federal Efforts Needed
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Backgrounder #2244)
Congress should adopt a two-step approach to restore American authors’ First Amendment rights. To protect speech rights, abusive foreign libel judgments should be unenforceable in U.S. courts; to deter libel tourism, the law should provide harsh damages against those who bring abusive libel suits. But diplomacy will also be required to convince foreign nations that free speech is their citizens'natural right.
February 19, 2009
Voting Representation for the District of Columbia: Violating the Framers' Vision and Constitutional Commands
By Nathaniel Ward and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #37)
Lawmakers must reject any legislative proposal granting the residents of the District of Columbia a separate, voting representative in Congress. Providing such a representative would run afoul of a commonsense understanding of the Constitution, the intentions of the Founders, and more than two centuries of interpretation by legislators and the courts.
February 13, 2009
Mortgage Modifications in Bankruptcy Would Undermine Homeownership, Prevent Few Foreclosures
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Backgrounder #2242)
Allowing judges to discharge mortgage debt in bankruptcy and rewrite repayment terms would put homeownership out of reach for many Americans, especially those of lesser means; deal a blow to banks and other lenders at a time when many are faltering, thereby undermining government efforts to increase stability in that sector; and prevent few foreclosures while harming those it is intended to protect.
January 22, 2009
Making Ledbetter Better, or at Least Less Bad
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2236)
If Congress is serious about protecting workers from discrimination, it should consider more thoughtful proposals than effectively eliminating Title VII’s limitations period.
January 16, 2009
Promoting Innovation with Patent Reform: A Memo to President-elect Obama
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Special Report #0047)
President-elect Obama, you are right to recognize that our intellectual property system is absolutely essential to the global competitiveness of America and its leading industries. Our current patent system, though far from perfect, has been the midwife of American innovation, and with its protections, U.S. companies have become leaders in a great many fields, from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to microchip design and high-performance computing. Whatever its faults, our patent system has done far more to “promote the Progress of Science” than any other government policy or program.
January 07, 2009
The Ledbetter Act: Sacrificing Justice for "Fair" Pay
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #34)
Congressional leaders have said that they will fast-track the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill that would allow pay discrimination lawsuits to proceed years or even decades after alleged discrimination took place. Proponents say that the legislation is necessary to overturn a Supreme Court decision that misconstrued the law and impaired statutory protections against discrimination, but the Court's decision reflected both longstanding precedent and Congress's intentions at the time the law was passed.
January 06, 2009
Promoting the General Welfare Through Civil Justice Reform
By Hans A. von Spakovsky and Andrew M. Grossman
(Special Report #38)
President-elect Obama, you argued forcefully as a candidate that we need a regulatory and business landscape in which businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors can thrive and consumers are protected. You vowed to take action to make America's civil justice system work for all Americans.
January 06, 2009
Protecting Property Rights to Preserve Freedom and Prosperity
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Special Report #40)
President-elect Obama, you have been a strong and eloquent defender of property rights and the rule of law, recognizing that they undergird Americans' freedoms and protect us from unjust government actions. These protections may be most important to those of modest means, who are the disproportionate victims of government takings of property. As explained by the NAACP and other civil rights leaders, the poor are also affected more profoundly by takings that upset their com-munities and ways of life.
2008 Research
December 12, 2008
TARP: Now a Slush Fund for Detroit?
By Andrew M. Grossman and James Gattuso
(WebMemo #2170)
With the Senate’s rejection of a bailout for Detroit’s ailing automakers, there comes word that President Bush is actively considering using funds allocated by Congress for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to prop up the automakers for the time being. Such action would be legally wrong, economically wrong, and counterproductive to turning around these troubled businesses. By opening the door to virtually unlimited uses of this money, a unilateral decision to employ TARP funds would be an outrage to taxpayers.
December 09, 2008
Bankruptcy Is Best: Responding to Automakers’ Arguments against Chapter 11 Restructuring
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2165)
Though a bailout may be better for the automakers' current executives and shareholders, restructuring in bankruptcy remains the best choice for the automakers' continued viability and future success. This paper considers, in turn, each of the automakers’ arguments against allowing the normal operation of law that is, bankruptcy when a firm becomes insolvent.
November 20, 2008
Inaugural Tickets for Sale? Overcriminalization Strikes Again
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2138)
A new bill introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein (D–CA) would criminalize the sale of inaugural tickets. This sort of knee-jerk criminalization has led to the proliferation of criminal offenses. This broadening of the criminal law cheapens the notion of crime and reduces the law's deterrent effect.
November 17, 2008
The Automaker Bailout: Questions Congress Must Ask the Automakers
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2134)
For Congress to be a wise steward of the public purse and responsibly evaluate the need for a bailout, it requires an unvarnished account of these corporations’ prospects. Only direct questioning of executives about their bankruptcy planning is likely to yield the sort of information that Congress needs to make the right decision.
November 15, 2008
Automakers Need Bankruptcy, Not Bailout
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #33)
For the Big Three, staying the course (the only alternative to reorganization in bankruptcy) guarantees failure. Outside of bankruptcy, the automakers will have neither the legal ability nor the incentives or wherewithal to reform their labor agreements, consolidate their brands, eliminate massive redundancies, find new leadership, and rethink how they produce and market automobiles.
September 26, 2008
The Housing Bailout: Constitutional Infirmities Remain, but a Ray of Hope
By Andrew M. Grossman, Robert Alt, Todd Gaziano
(WebMemo #2086)
Congress can put together a plan that does not violate our fundamental law. Those who, for reasons of economic policy, favor the leadership/White House proposal must correct its legal flaws if they seek, in good faith, to uphold their duty to the Constitution and the people. To do otherwise would be to set bad precedent that may stain constitutional practice for generations to come.
September 24, 2008
All Deliberate Speed: Constitutional Fidelity and Prudent Policy Go Hand in Hand in Fixing the Credit Crisis
By Todd F. Gaziano and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2079)
For sound policy and constitutional reasons, Congress should not recess until it acts on a solution to the credit crisis, but it should also be mindful of the virtues of calm deliberation and the dangers to liberty of a crisis mentality. The mounting resistance to the administration’s proposal presents an opportunity for careful deliberation. The constitutional and policy concerns expressed by many Members of Congress and thoughtful scholars this past week must be thoroughly considered, no matter what the practical time limit for action is on this matter.
September 17, 2008
The MySpace Suicide: A Case Study in Overcriminalization
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #32)
Lori Drew faces charges under a federal anti-hacking statute and could wind up in jail, but her behavior, while obviously wrong, was not criminal. Overcriminalization eliminates long-standing protections against unfair criminal liability, puts honest citizens at risk of prosecution, and allows politics to trump sound prosecutorial discretion. Worst of all, it threatens the rule of law and individual liberty.
August 18, 2008
The Senate's ADA Amendments Act: Only Half Bad
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #2028)
Now is not the right time to expand ADA coverage, but if legislation is inevitable, Congress should still reject approaches that muddy the meaning of the law and would inflict unnecessary pain across the economy.
July 30, 2008
Enumerated Powers Act Brings the Constitution to Capitol Hill
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #29)
The Enumerated Powers Act would be a small step toward reviving the practice of constitutionally limited government. Although it would not stop Congress from passing unwise laws, the Act would empower those Members who take the Constitution seriously to force the House and Senate to at least consider constitutional norms in lawmaking.
July 15, 2008
Defining Disability Down: The ADA Amendments Act's Dangerous Details
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Testimony #9999)
Testimony before The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
United States Senate
July 02, 2008
The ADA Restoration Act: Defining Disability Down
By Andrew M. Grossman and James Sherk
(Legal Memorandum #27)
The ADA Restoration Act would water down the definition of disability, potentially allowing the bulk of American workers to claim disability status and the protections associated with that status for mild and even temporary impairments, such as asthma and tennis elbow. This would harm those who are truly disabled and aided by the current Americans with Disabilities Act.
May 16, 2008
No-Match Immigration Enforcement: Time for Action
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #25)
The next Administration is unlikely to take workplace immigration enforcement seriously. Now is the time to put employers on notice that they cannot bury their heads in the sand when they receive no-match letters. Congress should do its part by putting a quick end to anti-enforcement lawsuits and clarifying the legal authorities for the sharing of Social Security no-match data.
May 15, 2008
'Sunshine' Should Not Trump Privacy in Civil Litigation
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #24)
The Sunshine in Litigation Act would limit judges' discretion to approve and enforce litigants' confidentiality agreements. In many cases, discovery would grind to a halt as parties, unable to rely on broad protective orders, would be forced to challenge far more requests for evidence. Plaintiffs especially would lose out. Without the ability to offer confidentiality, they could expect to see smaller settlements, higher litigation costs, and even the disclosure of their own personal information.
May 06, 2008
Consumer Product Safety Database Poses Risks
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1915)
The panic over lead-contaminated toys revealed a serious shortcoming in safety efforts: Consumers, particularly parents, lack trusted sources to turn to for detailed information on the safety of the products they have in their homes.
April 04, 2008
Keep Track of Crack Cocaine Facts
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1882)
The Department of Justice should collect and regularly publish facts on the effect of new guidelines granting retroactive application of lower prison sentences.
March 14, 2008
National Security Letters: Three Important Facts
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1853)
National security letters are an indispensable tool in national security investigations.
March 12, 2008
FISA Modernization Is Not About "Warrantless Wiretapping"
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1847)
Making permanent the authorities of the now-expired Protect America Act has only an incidental relation to Americans' communications.
March 03, 2008
Senate CPSC Bill: A Boon for Trial Lawyers at the Expense of Product Safety
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #1831)
Congress should avoid policies that raise the cost of doing business, increase legal uncertainty and risk, and threaten jobs.
February 14, 2008
Human Trafficking Reauthorization Would Undermine Existing Anti-Trafficking Efforts and Constitutional Federalism
By Brian W. Walsh and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #21)
The current version of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act would undermine accountability by inviting officials at all levels of government to "pass the buck" on enforcement issues, distract and divert federal law enforcement from actual human trafficking and other responsibilities that are inherently federal in nature, and detract from states' ability to function as "laboratories of democracy."
January 31, 2008
Congress Must Stop Playing Politics with FISA and National Security
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Robert Alt, and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1791)
Congress's 15-day extension of the Protect America Act puts intelligence-gatherers in an impossible situation.
January 28, 2008
ADA Restoration Act: Undermining the Employer-Employee Relationship
By James Sherk and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1785)
Congress should consider the impact that this legislation would have across the economy and on so many employers and diligent workers.
January 18, 2008
The Federal Government’s Brief in the D.C. Gun Ban Case: A Glass That Is More Than Half Full
By Todd Gaziano and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1775)
The Solicitor General got the big question right: Americans do have a right to keep and bear arms.
2007 Research
June 21, 2007
SCHIP and "Crowd-Out": How Public Program Expansion Reduces Private Coverage
By Andrew M. Grossman and Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1518)
As Congress considers expanding SCHIP up the income ladder, it should recognize that throwing more money into the program will increasingly "crowd out" private funding and coverage while doing less to expand overall coverage.
May 15, 2007
A New Gag Rule: How the Executive Branch Reform Act Violates Civil Liberty
By Brian W. Walsh, Matthew Spalding, and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1456)
The Executive Branch Reform Act would pose grave threats to individual Americans’ rights to free speech and to petition the government, threaten the constitutional separation of powers, and prove unconstitutional in many applications.
March 28, 2007
A Responsible FY 2008 Budget: House Republican Substitute Focuses on Spending and Economic Growth
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1412)
Unlike the House Democrats' budget resolution, the Republican budget substitute embodies a vision of fiscal restraint and economic growth.
2006 Research
December 06, 2006
A Taxpayer Victory Against Wasteful Agricultural Subsidies
By Brian M. Riedl and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1279)
The Senate votes down an $800 million increase in "emergency" agricultural subsidies.
2005 Research
December 14, 2005
Ready for Reconciliation: The Top Five Items No Fiscal Conservative Could Possibly Support
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #939)
Is Congress finally getting serious about federal spending? Here's your scorecard.
November 19, 2005
When Would the President's Tax Cuts Expire?
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #921)
A list of the tax cut provisions and when they would expire.
September 21, 2005
Pelosi Leads the Way on Highway Bill Give-Back
By Andrew M. Grossman and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #852)
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but apparently hurricanes have far stranger effects.
September 21, 2005
The White House Is Right To Threaten a Veto on Drug Importation
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #855)
Another year, another bill, and another amendment on prescription drug importation. It's still bad policy.
July 18, 2005
Danger of London-Style Terrorist Bombings Justifies Ending Amtrak's Ownership of Key Tunnels
By Joseph Vranich and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #796)
For safety's sake, Congress should divest Amtrak of its Manhattan tunnels.
June 30, 2005
Hispanic Workers Should Back Personal Accounts
By William W. Beach and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #782)
Contrary to a recent report, Hispanics would benefit from personal accounts.
May 06, 2005
Jobs, Growth, and the Washington Connection
By Tim Kane, Ph.D., and Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #739)
April's job numbers were good; Congress can make them better.
April 19, 2005
Reversing the Bush Tax Cuts Would Not Fix Social Security
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Andrew Grossman
(Backgrounder #1844)
President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts stimulated investment and expanded employment, adding some strength to the Social Security system in the process. Extending these tax cuts permanently would help to lock in these gains and spur further economic expansion. In contrast, a straightforward repeal of the President's tax cuts would harm both the economy and Social Security.
February 10, 2005
Behind Social Security's Big Numbers
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #662)
All these big numbers--what do they mean?
January 13, 2005
The Unacceptable Costs of Raising Payroll Taxes to "Save" Social Security
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., William W. Beach, and Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #639)
Small fixes turn out not to be so small.
2004 Research
October 27, 2004
Pro-Life Policy: Does It Make a Difference?
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #598)
Pro-life policies reduce abortion rates. This surprises some.
October 22, 2004
Google v. Microsoft: Trustbusters Not Needed
By Andrew Grossman and James L. Gattuso
(WebMemo #593)
A tale of technology overcoming monopoly without the trustbusters.
October 21, 2004
Scorecard on the Economy: A Guide for Policymakers
By Tim Kane, Ph.D., Andrew Grossman, Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #04-10)
More than 1.5 million payroll jobs, and nearly 2 million jobs on the household survey, added over the past year; high output, manufacturing outlook, business confidence, and productivity; markedly improved long-term unemployment and manufacturing employment outlooks; and a poverty rate that is low by historical standards: These are the facts that frame the debate on the economy.
September 21, 2004
Health Savings Accounts and the FEHBP: Perfect Together
By Andrew Grossman and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #571)
the 'adverse selection' argument doesn't justify opposition to HSAs in the FEHBP.
April 21, 2004
When Would the President's Tax Cuts Expire?
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #486)
Descriptions of all that tax cuts that will expire between 2004 and 2011 unless Congress takes action.
April 15, 2004
Google It: Privacy Advocates Wrong About Regulating Gmail
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #479)
Consumers do take privacy seriously, but they want it on their own terms. Government regulation, therefore, would be a mistake.
2009 Commentary
May 06, 2009
An Intelligent Decision
By Andrew M. Grossman
"Duh." That was former NSA Administrator Michael Hayden's apt response to the recent release of a court opinion upholding government surveillance under the Protect America Act. The PAA, a temporary expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, provided statutory support for conducting warrantless wiretaps on targets "reasonably believed" to be outside the U.S., continuing a program that had begun shortly after 9/11 and is the subject of ongoing court challenges by groups like the ACLU.
April 29, 2009
Keep courts out of it: National security policy belongs in the executive branch and Congress.
By Andrew M. Grossman
President Obama's embrace of the same legal doctrines as President Bush shows that, even between administrations of wide ideological divergence, the pendulum swings little, if at all.
April 02, 2009
Speedy bankruptcy for Chrysler, GM puts future at risk
By Andrew M. Grossman
The best option for General Motors and Chrysler, if they can't cut deals with the union and bondholders, is a fast "surgical bankruptcy," say Obama officials. Is it possible?
March 24, 2009
Key Protection In Federal Criminal Cases Slowly Disappearing
By Andrew M. Grossman and Brian W. Walsh
Criminal intent -- what someone charged with a crime knew or was trying to do -- matters. At least, it should. Just ask Ignacio Flores-Figueroa, whose case is now before the Supreme Court.
March 11, 2009
Bankruptcy best aids GM, Chrysler
By Andrew M. Grossman
The time has come to stop the fear-mongering and face facts: General Motors and Chrysler are racing fast toward insolvency and bankruptcy filings.
February 17, 2009
Don't throw good tax money after bad
By Andrew M. Grossman
The first thing to do when you've lost $17 billion is to hire lawyers.
Expensive lawyers.
2008 Commentary
December 22, 2008
Grand Theft Class Action: Game Over
By Andrew M. Grossman
A July 30 decision likely spelled the end of a class-action suit against the makers of the popular Grand Theft Auto videogame series for a sexually explicit "minigame" hidden in one of its episodes. Within that decision may be an insight into how judges think about a certain class of cases that capture public attention.
October 20, 2008
Turn terrorist detainees loose?
By Andrew Grossman
Importing terrorists hardly seems like a winning strategy to protect the nation's security. But that's what one federal judge says we have to do.
September 23, 2008
A Tale of Two Hackers
By Andrew Grossman
Consider two cases. In one, a suburban housewife posed as a teenage boy on MySpace to learn more about her daughter’s on-again, off-again friend. In the other, a gang of computer geeks broke into the personal e-mail account of a vice-presidential candidate because they were seeking smear material
September 20, 2008
Congress Must Act Now to Stop Sex Offenders
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
Members of Congress often justify their actions as being "for the children." So why is it proving so difficult to get them to fully fund the sex offender registry and notification system they created two years ago under the Adam Walsh Act?
July 07, 2008
State Secrets? Who Needs 'Em?
By Andrew Grossman
If Congress needed a kick in the pants to get moving on intelligence reform, this is it: A San Francisco judge ruled Wednesday that the federal government's program to spy on terrorists and their affiliates is not protected by the "state secrets" privilege. This means that government officials and companies that helped to implement the program may be forced to testify about its structure and operations.
June 30, 2008
An Individual Right Rekindled
By Andrew Grossman
“Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights [e.g., a felon], the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in his home.” So ordered the Supreme Court this morning.
June 30, 2008
Should Terrorist Detainees Have More Rights Than Americans?
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
Last week the Supreme Court ruled that terrorist detainees held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in federal court.
May 14, 2008
DA Faces a Fielder's Choice
By Andrew M. Grossman
Concrete worker Gino Castignoli probably should have to face a few fastballs -- high and inside -- from New York Yankees pitchers Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang. But the district attorney shouldn't be able to throw the book at him.
April 25, 2008
Should poor defendants have the right to counsel in civil cases? No.
By Andrew M. Grossman
In a nation where about one in every 100 workers is a lawyer—where lawyers tout low flat rates in the phonebook and no-risk contingency fees on late-night TV—only the lawyers’ trade association could argue that the government needs to provide free legal representation in civil cases.
April 07, 2008
Keep Track of Crack Facts
By Andrew M. Grossman
A new federal law is letting thousands of federal convicts out of prison early, and no one is tracking who these felons are or what they do as they return to the streets. A belated April Fool's joke? No, it's true, and it's no joke.
April 01, 2008
FISA Foes Fudge the Facts
By Andrew M. Grossman
It seems pretty simple: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is the law that U.S. intelligence experts use to sniff out foreign terrorists. Considering that it became law in 1978 — and that technology has evolved quite a bit in the ensuing three decades — modernizing this essential security tool to fit today's communications networks should be relatively simple.
March 10, 2008
Disorder in the Court
By Andrew M. Grossman
"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," is an old saw, but there’s wisdom in it.
February 26, 2008
Green Light on Terrorism
By Andrew M. Grossman and Robert Alt
Ordinarily, we wouldn't alert international terrorists that the United States is easing its efforts to detect and dismantle their plots. But since Congress has already, in effect, given the terrorists the green light to plot without fear of discovery, calling attention to the House's gross irresponsibility in allowing crucial intelligence-gathering laws to expire probably won't cause further harm.
2007 Commentary
September 03, 2007
S-CHIP expansion is not about 'the children'
By Andrew Grossman and Robert Moffit
Washington's rhetoric often fails to match reality, a truism reaffirmed by Congress' recent move to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), a 10-year-old program created for kids in low-income families.
2006 Commentary
February 10, 2006
Medicare Part "D" For "Disaster"
By Andrew M. Grossman
A rare bit of good news recently trickled out about Medicare's new prescription-drug entitlement. The entitlement will cost $678 billion over 10 years, rather than the $737 billion previously projected. The reason for this "savings"? It's partly that fewer seniors have signed up for the entitlement than the 33 million the government expected. And out of the 24 million now enrolled, only 3.6 million actually "signed up" -- the rest had no choice.
2005 Commentary
June 16, 2005
Workers, Not Employers, Must Control Retirement Funds
By Andrew Grossman
Employees of United Airlines recently got a frightening lesson in the "ownership society." The lesson was: If you don't own and control your retirement assets, they can be slashed or taken away at any time.
May 26, 2005
Defusing the Medicare Time Bomb
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D. and Andrew Grossman
Newly hatched deficit hawks in Congress publicly sweat at the thought of supporting personal accounts for Social Security.
February 02, 2005
Beginning of the End of Drug Re-Importation
By Nina Owcharenko and Andrew Grossman
Could this be the beginning of the end of the debate over drug re-importation? Advocates of the practice argue that American consumers, particularly seniors...
2004 Commentary
October 22, 2004
The Flu-Vaccine Shortage: A Second Opinion
By Andrew Grossman and Edmund F. Haislmaier
Sen. Kerry should himself "play straight with the American people" and admit that his plan for buying drugs in Medicare relies on the same factor that caused the vaccine shortage.
August 25, 2004
The jobs numbers that you're not hearing about
By Tim Kane and Andrew Grossman
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently snuck out a telling confession beneath everyone's radar: Its flagship payroll survey is likely undercounting hundreds of thousands of jobs.
November 6, 2009
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feeds