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All redistricting reformers are hypocrites

Columns

Hypocrisy was triumphant, as it usually is in arguments over redistricting, in Virginia this week, as voters approved a “fairness” constitutional amendment allowing the Democratic-majority legislature to enact a congressional districting plan that is expected to increase Democrats’ edge in its congressional delegation from 6-5 to 10-1. This is a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried over then-candidate Donald Trump by a 52% to 46% margin. Before this year, Virginia Democrats had been bragging about the bipartisan redistricting process they created and voters ...

The same crisis wearing different clothes

Columns

America has a spending problem. It also has a health care problem. These are not two separate crises but rather the same crisis wearing different clothes. The Cato Institute’s new “Handbook on Affordability” is a great resource to understand the root problem and how to fix it. Start with a recap of the fiscal picture. The federal government runs large deficits so persistently that they’ve become a structural threat to price stability. As Romina Boccia and Dominik Lett argue in the handbook’s second chapter, when debt expands faster than the economy, investors begin pricing in ...

A secret act of judicial tyranny

Columns

In a famous Supreme Court one-liner, reminding the legal community of the finality of the court’s rulings, the late Justice William J. Brennan Jr. is reputed to have said that the Constitution means whatever any five of us say it means. This reflects the basic math that five is a majority of nine. It also reflects the theory of realism in constitutional jurisprudence. Realism, in this context, is the view that the Constitution is stagnant and unenforceable of its own existence. Realism teaches that the Constitution is only enforceable when the government voluntarily complies with it ...

Dear Annie: Choosing peace over an endless battle

Columns

Dear Annie: I have read your responses to letters about barking dogs and neighborhood noise, and I appreciate the calm, compassionate way you approach these conflicts. You encourage people to start with empathy, assume good intentions and try to work things out neighbor to neighbor. That sounded wise to us, so we followed that advice exactly. We live surrounded by multiple homes with several dogs, and the barking has become a constant part of our lives. It comes from three sides of our property and even from farther down the street. It interrupts sleep, work, conversation and the ...

Applause, Applause

Columns

Each Saturday, The Express community newspaper highlights people, groups and activities our readers deem worthy of applause. We want to give a huge SHOUT OUT and a big THANK YOU to the Susquehanna Valley Big Twins Motorcycle Club for putting together a basket benefit for us during their April breakfast at their club and to EVERYONE who came out to help our cause. Because of YOU, we were able to raise a total of $2,313. We are beyond grateful to everyone who came out to support us, to everyone who provided baskets and prizes for the raffle and to everyone who bought chances for the ...

Antique rustic furniture can hide many surprises

Columns

Think of wooden furniture, and most of us picture defined shapes, even lines and symmetry. Of course, that isn’t always the case. Historically, wood was left with uneven live edges when furniture was made quickly out of necessity, not as a design choice. While raw edges, twig construction ...