Free Trade & the Commerce Clause

11.21

2016

Election Good News for Libs? Best Trump Analysis Starts Here

Three Positives that the Democratish should follow up on. Later I’ll get to what everybody’s enjoying whining about. First the positives, if you can stand it.
07.18

2015

Can Pluto Help Us Understand “Free Trade”?

If we used Pluto’s new celebrity status as an opportunity to see Earth—from afar—as part of the solar system and part of a Galactic Trade Organization, would we gain any new insights? Pluto is a trip-and-a-half. The word pluto means both wealth (plutocracy) and hell (Pluto as god of Hades), so, already economics, myth, and…
11.27

2014

Why a Green Future is “Unconstitutional” and What to Do About It (2008)

Working in tandem with a cooperative Supreme Court, corporate lawyers have insinuated themselves into the US Constitution like retroviruses, rewriting Constitutional code so that instead of protecting human persons from an oppressive government, the Constitution has been twisted to shield corporate persons (corporations) from control by the governments that create them.
11.27

2014

Look to Congress for Supreme Court Fix (2010)

How is it unconstitutional for a state to require place-of-origin labels on meat? Regulate sale of its water? Establish worker protections stricter than federal standards? Where does the US Constitution say that states cannot require that toxic waste be sorted and labeled? Cannot include labor standards in state purchasing policy? Cannot make companies disclose what…
11.26

2014

Corporate “Social Responsibility”: Kick the Habit (2000)

What to expect next from corporate sponsors of the WTO? There’s a well-thumbed page in the corporate playbook, ready to go. Whether or not it works depends on us. The last time there was a scuffle as worrisome as the Seattle demonstrations,” Richard Milhous “Tricky Dick” Nixon was in the White House. Nearly everybody else…
11.25

2014

Meat, ‘Free Trade’ and Democracy: As Goes South Korea, So Went Missouri (2008)

In the Spring of 2008, tens of thousands of South Koreans held candlelight vigils every day for over a month to protest being forced to accept beef from the United States. The US government claims that barring our beef is an illegal “trade barrier.” This isn’t the first time the US has resorted to international…
11.25

2014

“Free Trade’s” Footprint a Decade after Seattle (2010)

On this Tenth Anniversary of the “Battle for Seattle,” we could celebrate, we should commemorate, but we must evaluate. Right, then. What seemed so important at the time? It is difficult to even see back to 1999 without becoming lost among other landmark events soon to bask in their own tenth anniversaries. The last decade’s…
11.23

2014

Roberts Earns His Keep: The Supreme Court’s “ObamaCare” Decision (2012)

In the “Obamacare” decision, Chief Justice Roberts masterfully executed what the Zulu call “buffalo horns” – the pincer strategy. Purchase of health insurance is mandatory (a 5-4 vote), BUT states are not required to expand Medicaid to cover the people who can’t afford insurance (a 7-2 vote). The combination is a perfect way to anger…
11.23

2014

“ObamaCare,” the Constitution, and Democracy: The Heart of the Matter (2012)

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Obama Health Care Plan (OHCP), officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010). Is OHCP constitutional? What is a defensible and prudent green position on this question? Shrill arguments accompanied several cases challenging the law as they worked their way through…
10.23

2011

The Pink Oleo Saga: Why So Many Good State Laws Are “Unconstitutional” (and What We Should Do About It) (2008)

What’s pink, French, and unconstitutional? Hint: The story of this early “frankenfood” provides an advance script for the current global “free trade” frenzy. Over a century ago, its introduction was an occasion for greasing the skids toward establishing a U.S. “free trade” zone, one that is as devastating to local democracy as the WTO and…

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