Along with his effort to fill the federal judiciary, something else President Trump needs to do is get the federal bureaucracy under control. Along with eliminating as many federal bureaucracy positions as possible, he also needs to get behind Senate efforts to eliminate the practice known as “burrowing.” Burrowing is where political appointees of one administration, towards the end of their term, get their status changed from political appointee to full-time career civil servant. The objective of this is to put civil servants who are almost unfireable, into positions where they can impede a subsequent administration.

The Obama administration did this to great effect. Much of the resistance to President Trump’s efforts to fulfill his campaign promises is due to Obama holdovers who, at best, drag their feet and, at worst, openly defy his orders. //

Both the House and the Senate have passed different versions of a bill to prevent this practice. However, neither bill goes far enough. President Trump should get behind such a bill, but the prohibition on a Presidential political appointee taking a career Civil Service position, should extend for as long as the President who appointed him is in office and for 180 days thereafter.

History of US Federal Licensing of Radio Operators

Nearly every current case that’s being looked in this rash of new vaping illnesses involves the use of THC. This actually has nothing to do with vaping itself. There is no actual link between lung disease and inhaling water vapor mixed with nicotine.

There’s also not even much evidence that kids vaping is somehow more prevalent than tobacco use was before vaping was an option. Yes, we’ve seen a drop in smoking among teenagers. It’s not a coincidence though that it has tracked with a rise in vaping. In other words, kids are trading a deadly habit for one that’s largely harmless unless you mix it with illicit substances.//

The biggest issue here is what the alternatives are. Banning flavored vaping (leaving only tobacco flavored) means a lot of people are going to end up back on cigarettes. 480,000 people die every year from illnesses related to smoking. That’s not even counting chewing tobacco. Banning the majority of vaping products because six people died doing it wrong will ultimately end up in hundreds of thousands of more deaths over the next decade. //

There’s also the aspect of freedom of choice here as well. We are supposed to be conservatives. Banning things over illogical moral panic is not conservative. Trump needs to reverse course on this. It’s a mistake and will only make things far worse.