"This has been a year of watershed moments in real estate, and not the good kind.

"The Housing Market Index, a closely watched industry metric that gauges the outlook for home sales, declined to 33 in November on a hundred-point scale, its lowest level in a decade, save for the first dystopian month of the pandemic. Anything under 50 spells trouble.

"A month earlier, interest rates on a standard 30-year mortgage passed 7 percent, capping the largest single-year increase in at least 50 years."

Read the entire article here.

"The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week in the biggest sleeper case of its 2022-23 term.

"The justices already have before them the blockbuster dispute of whether government-funded or -run colleges and universities can continue to use race in making admissions decisions, testing whether the court will live up to the Constitution's promise of equal protection of the laws and that the government will treat its citizens as individuals without regard to race. But the Supreme Court also has before it a potentially earth-shaking case involving governmental structure in addition to individual rights.

"Moore v. Harper asks the justices to decide whether a state court can impose its own map for congressional districts drawn after the decennial census. It will test whether the Supreme Court will honor the Constitution's text, rather than past practice, with implications for the control not just over congressional districting (which helped Republicans win the House in the most recent midterm elections) but also the selection of presidential electors. If a true dispute arose over the results of the 2024 election, Moore v. Harper might provide the touchstone for a state legislative role in determining the winner."

Read the entire article here.

"One of the old saws of censorship apologists is that without a government directing the suppression of free speech, it is not censorship.

That is clearly untrue. Many groups like the ACLU stress that 'censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups.'

The same figures insist that if, there is not a violation of the First Amendment (which only applies to the government), there is no free speech violation.

The First Amendment was never the exclusive definition of free speech. Free speech is viewed by many of us as a human right; the First Amendment only deals with one source for limiting it. Free speech can be undermined by private corporations as well as government agencies.

Corporations clearly have free speech rights."

Read the entire article here.

"New York politicians are slapping a badge on my chest. A law going into effect Saturday requires social-media networks, including any site that allows comments, to publish a plan for responding to alleged hate speech by users.

The law blog I run fits the bill, so the law will mandate that I post publicly my policy for responding to comments that 'vilify, humiliate, or incite violence against a group' based on 'race, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.' It also requires that I give readers a way to complain about my blog's content and obligates me to respond directly.

I don't want to moderate such content and I don't endorse the state's definition of hate speech. I do sometimes delete comments, but I do it based on my own editorial judgment, not state command. Still, I'm being conscripted. By obligating me to do the state's bidding with regard to viewpoints that New York condemns, the law violates the First Amendment."

Read the entire article here.

"Florida is divesting from investment giant BlackRock, becoming the latest state to pull assets from the firm over its environment, social, and governance (ESG) policies.

"The Sunshine State's chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, announced Thursday that the Florida Treasury would immediately begin removing roughly $2 billion in assets from BlackRock's control in a process that should be completed by year's end.

"'Using Florida's cash to fund BlackRock's social-engineering project isn't something we signed up for,' Patronis tweeted in making the announcement. 'It's got nothing to do with maximizing returns and is the opposite of what an asset manager is paid to do.' ...

"BlackRock and other major financial institutions, like State Street and Vanguard, have spearheaded an effort to promote ESG standards over the last several years. The ESG movement broadly seeks to promote a green energy transition and left-wing social priorities through the financial sector.

"Republican states and groups like the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), though, have waged a war against the ESG movement, arguing that it is anti-democratic and harmful to taxpayers by pushing investments that don't result in maximum earnings for consumers."

Read the entire article here.

"With the price of everything from gasoline to food soaring in America, nobody is surprised by inflated price tags these days. But even by Washington standards, an action taken earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency is creating sticker shock: a nearly fourfold increase in the government calculation of damages from carbon emissions.

"The so-called Social Cost of Carbon was first set in 2009 under then-President Barack Obama. Under Democrats it has been set for most of the last decade at $51 per metric ton. But in a rulemaking notice in mid-November, EPA said it had devised a new calculation that raises that damage estimate to $190 per metric ton by 2022 standards and as much as $410 by the year 2080.

"The figure isn't just hypothetical. If enacted, it could affect everything from the cost of methane regulations and tailpipe emissions to the 'climate reparations' that President Joe Biden has committed the United States to paying to poor countries in the future.

"The new estimate has sent shockwaves through the energy industry and raised the stakes for ongoing litigation being brought by Republican attorneys general in states like Louisiana that are challenging the Biden administration Social Cost of Carbon rulemaking as unconstitutional."

Read the entire article here.

"'I intend to be the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history,' President Biden promised last year. At least until a rail strike threatened his poll numbers.

"Biden is hammering Congress to enact legislation to effectively outlaw a strike next week by 100,000 railroad freight workers. Unions are threatening a work stoppage to compel railroad owners to provide sick leave.

"Biden declared in April, 'Workers who join a union gain power -- the power over decisions that affect their lives.' But not as much power as the president has over them. And considering how disruptive a strike would be for the national economy, Biden needs to stop it.

"Liberal activists are stunned at Biden's apparent betrayal of rank-and-file workers. But the Democrats' posturing is no surprise. Unions are great -- if someone else pays."

Read the entire article here.

"The White House recently issued a new regulation that will allow investment fiduciaries, including 401(k) plan managers, to offer investment options that consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, such as climate change and social justice initiatives. The move could radically transform retirement investing for tens of millions of Americans nationwide.

"Until now, those managing many retirement accounts were required to prioritize the best return on investment possible. By opening the door to left-wing investment plans, the Biden administration is permitting employers and private pension fund managers to effectively politicize retirement investments.

"Under the new regulation, a retirement account fund manager or employer must continue to pledge to prioritize the interests of retirees, a longstanding requirement, but fiduciaries will now also be allowed to include factors like climate change and other ESG considerations in their analyses and decision-making processes. This will, by design, empower left-wing employers and fund managers to use retirement accounts to push leftist causes."

Read the entire article here.

"After all the supply chain problems the United States has suffered in the last two years, the very last thing the nation needs is a railroad strike. Unfortunately, it could happen any day now, as soon as Dec. 5. ...

"Needless to say, a strike by 15,000 rail workers would create a disaster for shipping ahead of the holiday season.

"Inflation is bad enough already, but if shipping problems worsen the scarcity of goods at the time of peak demand, the price of groceries, gas, and Christmas presents could go much higher than they already have. ...

"The good news is that the law governing labor relations on railroads is different from the law that governs them in most other industries.

"Congress, when it passed the Railway Labor Act in the 1920s, decided that railroads are just too important to be subjected to the whims of Big Labor the way other businesses are. Congress can force the striking workers back on the job by simply passing a resolution, which President Joe Biden would then have to sign.

"And of course, this is exactly what Congress should do..."

Read the entire article here.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"