Oxford Blues
What to know: The Oxford Union, a debating society dating back to 1823 at the University of Oxford, has rejected free speech and open debate for political correctness, one writer for The Spectator reports.
The TPPF take: TPPF’s Greg Sindelar recently spoke at the Oxford Union, and defended conservative ideas.
“Conservatism is not a fixed policy menu from a bygone era, not a litany of tax rates, trade treaties, or ritualized reverence for every institution simply because it exists,” Greg said. “Conservatism is a principle and an ethos. It is the determination to conserve the proper object of politics: the freedom of a sovereign people to live as themselves, under a constitutional order that restrains rulers rather than empowers them.”
It’s Not About the Booze
What to know: The U.S. Supreme Court soon will hear a case involving an Ohio man who simply wants to distill whiskey (and other spirits) for his own use, but is prevented by a 19th Century law. The case is really about the limits of the Commerce Clause.
The TPPF take: TPPF has filed an amicus brief, asking the Court to reaffirm that the Constitution places meaningful limits on federal power and that previous rulings safeguard those limits.
“The Supreme Court has long held that Congress has broad, but not unlimited, authority to regulate interstate commerce, but conflicting decisions have left lower courts without clear guidance on where those limits lie,” says TPPF’s Chance Weldon. “This case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to clear up that confusion and establish a consistent standard for determining when Congress can regulate intrastate activity.”
Rural Revival
What to know: The USDA is holding regional events to explore ways to revive rural communities, which the Trump administration calls the “backbone of this country.”
The TPPF take: Economic development can benefit rural Texas—but there should be guardrails in place.
“First and foremost, government needs to get out of the way of what’s already happening organically,” says TPPF’s Roy Maynard. “When government is limited, an economy’s potential is limitless. When communities invite the world to share what it already is—rather than what some planner thinks it ought to become—they demonstrates the truth of the moral and political principles that made Texas, and America, possible in the first place.”