The logic is often far-fetched - how does medical marijuana affect interstate commerce? - and some conservatives would like judges to start throwing out federal laws wholesale on commerce clause grounds. The court once again said no thanks.

One answer is that the towns elected officials thought that the project served a public purpose and that the various subsidies and favors were worth the price. But they may or may not have thought this.

I have a saying: the scandal isn't what's illegal, the scandal is what's legal.

Among the social sciences, economists are the snobs. Economics, with its numbers and graphs and curves, at least has the coloration and paraphernalia of a hard science. It's not just putting on sandals and trekking out to take notes on some tribe.

What could be more absurd than the idea that genuine anti-Christian prejudice is a major force in American politics.

Journalistic conventions make it hard for reporters to deal with a big, complicated lie.

A gaffe is a politician inadvertently telling an inconvenient truth.