Recently, Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on the federal level. He stated that the legality of marijuana should be a matter left up to individual states. This ringing endorsement of federalism might carry a little more weight if Senator Schumer hadn't spent a large part of his political career trying to micromanage Americans' behavior at the national level. Hillary Clinton is widely considered to be a staunch supporter of the LGBT community; however, she was publicly opposed to marriage equality until 2013. These are just two of the innumerable examples of politicians changing their stances on policy issues in the face of evolving public opinion. This is not a new phenomenon or exclusive to a single political party. Not only is it common for politicians to modify their positions of political principles to match changing public opinion, you'd be hard-pressed to find one who doesn't. We are dealing with political followership, not political leadership. So, what does that get us? Antony Davies and James Harrigan talk about this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.
Subscribe to the Words and Numbers podcast via iTunes.
Quick Hits
Tariff dodgers for drugs and steel and aluminum.
Penn State University's outing club may not go outside because it's too dangerous.
Foolishness of the Week
Nutrition labeling for pizza.
Topic of the Week
Political leaders and followers.
Follow James and Antony on Twitter.
Join the Words and Numbers Backstage FB group, where the conversation continues.
Antony Davies
Dr. Antony Davies is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Fellow at FEE, associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, and co-host of the podcast, Words & Numbers.
James R. Harrigan
James R. Harrigan is Managing Director of the Center for Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona, and the F.A. Hayek Distinguished Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education. He is also co-host of the Words & Numbers podcast.