In what can only be termed as truly bizarre, an Alabama local of the steelworkers union demanded that Alabama Governor Fob James close the international port at Mobile to all steel imports. Besides the fact that it would be clearly a violation of the U.S. Constitution for the governor to grant the union's demands, it would illegally abrogate existing contracts between suppliers and purchasers. It would also be bad economics.
Should the market or regulators place plants and waste sites?
The coalition of government bureaucrats, politicians, trial lawyers, and "political activists" who have orchestrated the demonization of "Big Tobacco" are about to wage a similar smear campaign against what the pressure group Common Cause has labeled "Big Booze." The beer, wine, and liquor industries will be demonized; dramatically higher taxes will be called for; and unconstitutional bans and restrictions on commercial advertising will be vigorously lobbied for. This was the political modus operandi of the anti-smoking movement, and it will now be carried over to other industries.
