In April, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act. The bill would “invest” $172 billion over 10 years to upgrade over 950,000 public housing units. When the bill was announced, Sanders said, “It is unacceptable that our nation’s public housing is in a state of chronic disrepair and energy inefficiency after generations of government neglect.” He failed to explain how his bill will prevent continued government neglect. But that isn’t his concern. He can make grand promises today, and when they fail to materialize, another Congress can make more grand promises.
Conservatives—the alleged defenders of free markets and limited government—are falling over themselves attempting to be more statist than the Progressives they love to hate. As one example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited private business, including cruise lines, from requiring proof of vaccination. As another example, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has proposed federal legislation that would prohibit mask or vaccine requirements across the nation. These purported champions of free markets have no qualms about dictating what businesses may or may not do. People like DeSantis and Cruz believe that businesses should be free of government intervention, so long as those businesses act as DeSantis and Cruz think proper. However, should a business do something that they don’t like, they will use the coercive power of government to achieve what they can’t accomplish through reason and voluntary means.
The newest craze among animal “rights” activists is property rights for wildlife. Karen Bradshaw, a law professor at Arizona State University, recently published a book promoting the idea. “Ships and corporations have owned property for decades; why not bison?” Bradshaw said. The concept of rights has been perverted for decades. This is the logical result.