Eye on NYC: A Mindless Airbnb Nix
“Local Law 18 came into effect” last Tuesday, effectively making “the city’s roughly 38,500 Airbnb listings illegal” in the name of increasing housing supply — which could hit New York City’s tourism industry hard, argues Reason’s Liz Wolfe. “The law is a gift to the hotel industry. But hotels aren’t always affordable, nor do they allow travelers to stay in off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods”; many “have chimed in with their personal stories of how short-term rentals have made trips to New York feasible for their families. If every visit becomes twice as expensive, why would anyone come to this rat-infested metropolis?” Plus: “Even if short-term rentals were squarely to blame for a housing supply crunch, infringing on the rights of property owners is a terrible precedent to set.”
Conservative: Left Fears Its Own Precedents
“The Left is now suddenly voicing warnings” that those of them who undermined the system “could be targeted by their own legacies,” quips Victor Davis Hanson at American Greatness. Impeachment is suddenly “dangerous” now that President Biden would be the target. Yet Democrats impeached Donald Trump twice and tried him in the Senate after he left office (which the Founders “certainly did not anticipate”). And “weaponizing impeachment is just one baleful legacy of the Left”; they’d also object to Republicans using their other precedents, such as getting the FBI to censor social media and moving to end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court. Dem leadership and the media justified such moves by deeming Trump an existential threat. Now they’re “scared” Republicans might follow their example to “enact conservative agendas.”
Ukraine beat: Putin’s Forever War
“They still don’t get it,” laments The Guardian’s Simon Tisdall: “After 18 months of horror” in Ukraine, “prominent politicians in the US and Europe” believe the war “will eventually end in negotiations.” “Pressure for talks is gathering momentum as a military breakthrough eludes Ukraine’s forces.” But “that Putin is willing to talk” is “a highly questionable assumption.” And “other factors render a meaningful peace process implausible. Any armistice freezing the status quo would reward Russian aggression — and most Ukrainians would rather perish first.” What to do? “Welcome Ukraine into Nato and the EU without further delay” and offer “more arms, planes and no-fly zones.” “Accept there can be no peace until Russia unconditionally withdraws. Will the politicians get it at last? Let’s hope so.”
From the right: Pelosi’s Gift to the GOP
San Francisco’s Rep. Nancy Pelosi says she’s running for reelection to “advance San Francisco values,” marvels the Issues & Insights editorial board — an “out-of-touch” and “incredibly deranged statement.” San Francisco values have made the city “more urban pigsty than the charming town that it once was.” They’ve “de-civilized” the city in countless ways, including viewing crime as just “a premium to pay for living in San Francisco” and treating the homeless like an “endangered species that are to be protected in their environment.” Republicans can use her “ill-advised” statement nationwide “in a continuous loop of ads during the 2024 campaign” warning voters that Dems will make the “entire country more like San Francisco.”
Foreign desk: End US-China Tech Cooperation
Some US scientists claim the expiring US-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement “has contributed to nearly every significant scientific breakthrough over the last 40 years,” grumbles Alexander B. Gray at The Hill. Yet the 1979 agreement has advanced “the interests of the Chinese Communist Party” — which believes “all economic and scientific activities conducted by Chinese nationals occur for the benefit of the CCP and its ultimate objective of regime survival and regional and global hegemony.” US policymakers should realize that China’s “techno-authoritarian dictatorship” isn’t “fertile ground for technological cooperation.” “Republican candidates for president should pledge to withdraw from the STA” — and in office “prioritize science and technology advancements that support economic and human advancement, not the survival and dominance of the Chinese Communist Party.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
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