Another item I meant to post last week, this time about property rights and protecting them from local governments (“…and we’re here to help”), from the Claremont dudes. It dovetails nicely with the slapdown of the strong-mayor plan this weekend in Dallas, though:

This is too good – the concept that the city might have to consider the potential cost of its regulations is totally foreign to Madame Mayor. Apparently, the option of regulating a little less doesn’t even occur to her.

What she’s really irate about, it turns out, is that her beloved smoking ban may now be in jeopardy. The Dallas business owners who’ve lost a ton of business as a result of the city-wide ban on smoking in public places are already lining up to demand compensation if this bill passes. It will be fun to watch.

The linked MorningSnooze article is full of shock and outrage from the politicos who are learning (maybe, but doubtful) that being elected to the City Council does not make them King of the World.

• “Good God almighty, they are killing us,” said Dallas City Council member Leo Chaney
• “The cities are getting the short end of the stick,” she [Miller] said. “They are capping our ability to make money and limiting our ability to hire lawyers to defend cases. It’s a strange vibe here.”
• “Like we have extra money to spend,” Ms. Miller said.