Free speech
PragerU, the popular conservative and libertarian non-profit founded by Dennis Prager, has filed a lawsuit against the tech giants Google and YouTube for censoring Prager’s educational videos. PragerU CEO Marissa Streit told The Daily Wire that she believes the organization will win in its lawsuit against “two of the most important public forums in the world” for what amounts to political discrimination. (Read more)
Job creation
License requirements are dragging down Nevada’s ability to get more people into the workforce, according to a new study by Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. In fact, if Nevada relaxed some of its occupational licensing requirements, it’s estimated the state could see an 8.5 percent boost to employment. It’s an estimate that makes sense when you consider that many common careers require clearly excessive amounts of “training” and administrative fees — the transparent purpose of which is blocking work in the field. Barbers, for example, are required to take 890 days of education and pay $140 in fees. Interior decorators face an even longer “training” period, with 2,190 days of apprenticeship required to get licensed by the state. In fact, the average license in Nevada requires $505 in fees, and over 600 days of education or supervised experience. (Read more)
Commerce Tax
Volunteers have already started collecting signatures to get a measure on the ballot to repeal the Commerce Tax — the state’s gross receipts tax on businesses. Nevada Controller Ron Knecht, who has been spearheading the effort to repeal the destructive tax, will be in Minden on November 13 to talk about the effort. Considering that a similar gross receipts tax was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2014, it seems that there is plenty of support to successfully repeal the Commerce Tax in 2018. (Read more)
Criminal justice
How many laws are actually on the books? Apparently, too many to count. Even the Department of Justice has been unable to tally the total number of federal-level criminal statutes. Title 18 of the United States Code, which governs crimes and criminal procedure, has over 6,000 sections, with more than 4,500 federal crimes and over 300,000 agency regulations containing criminal penalties. But if it’s impossible to even count the number of statutes and regulations that carry criminal penalties, how could it ever be possible for average Americans to follow all of them? (Read more)
Communism
November 7th marked 100 years since the Bolsheviks took control in Russia, promising bread, peace and liberty and instead ushering in a communist “revolution” that resulted in widespread poverty, genocide, human rights abuses and global conflict. The list of terrors and human suffering caused by communist regimes since the October Revolution of 1917 seems almost endless: The terror-famine in Ukraine, the religious persecution in Cuba, the “Cultural Revolution” in China, the Cambodia Killing Fields, Stalin’s Gulags… It goes on and on. In fact, it is estimated that as many as 100 million people died in the 20th century under the rule of communism. And yet, this dangerous ideology just never seems to be completely discredited. (Read more)
Veterans Day
Every year, marking the anniversary of the day on which World War I ended, with the armistice of 1918, Americans take the time to thank the men and women who have stood ready to protect our freedoms throughout the generations. Veterans Day is a time when we take a moment to acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions of members of our armed forces. Be sure to take time this weekend to reflect on the challenges, hardships, and sacrifices our veterans endure to keep us free.
On behalf of everyone at the Institute, I would like to say “thank you” to all our men and women in uniform. Your dedication to our freedom is inspiring and appreciated.
