Neil H. Buchanan

Washington, D.C.

Freelance Contributor at Freelance

Blogger at Dorf on Law

Articles

US Global Insanity, Preceded by Some Thoughts About Some Irish Icons

3 days ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

In my Dorf on Law column earlier this week announcing my very recent move to Ireland, I wrote: "Settling in will of course take some more time, but I wanted to get back to my writing as soon as possible." I concede, however, that I am in a bit of a honeymoon period. Any ability to write my usual steely-eyed analyses of the world's horrors is thus a bit undercut by a personal sense of calm and optimism.
The Shift Toward non-US Universities is Upon Us. (Oh, and I'm now in Ireland)

6 days ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

I took last week off from posting content here on Dorf on Law. Why? Because I have accepted an appointment as Visiting Full Professor at the Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland, where I was a Sutherland Fellow this past October. A week ago, I left Toronto and moved to Dublin. Settling in will of course take some more time, but I wanted to get back to my writing as soon as possible.
Choosing Among Constitutional Crises: Martial Law or the Debt Ceiling

2 weeks ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

Paul Krugman's daily substack post this morning ended with this: "If you’re a Democrat who wants to ignore the ongoing assault on democracy so we can talk about Medicaid — important as it is — you’re hiding your head in the sand. This is the moment.
The Nonsensical "Better Safe Than Sorry" Excuse to Slash Government Services and Public Investment

2 weeks ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

One unanticipated blessing of being a policy nerd is that it is allowing me to turn my attention away from the ongoing rise of American fascism, at least for small amounts of time. Today, therefore, I will not address Trump's militaristic display of dictatorial intent in Los Angeles, leaving that topic to other Dorf on Law columnists (with one such column scheduled for tomorrow, and perhaps others yet to be written).
The Opposition Must Be Internal and External

3 weeks ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

If the current era of increasingly unalloyed fascism in the US and rising authoritarianism in too many places around the world is ever going to end and be replaced by an era of democratic and humanistic renewal, it will take years of work by everyone who wants to see a better world than the dystopia that the US and some other countries are becoming.
The US Brain Drain and the World: Lose-Win Will Be a Net Loss

3 weeks ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

There have recently been increasing reports about the migration of intellectuals out of the United States, along with a parallel decrease in foreign scholars moving to the US.
Is It Time to Become a Deficit Scold?

1 month ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

Congressional Republicans are in the middle of negotiating and (possibly) passing an absolutely disastrous and cruel budget bill, with the only question being how many people it will impoverish, harm, and kill if it passes. One thing we do know is that any eventual bill will also result in larger annual budget deficits and thus a larger overall federal debt, which is what Republicans do when they are in power.
A Quick-ish Update on Social Security in the Post-Rational World

1 month ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

Is Social Security "going broke"? Is it doomed? Is it a Ponzi scheme? No to all of those things. Two months ago, I returned to those questions in a two-part Verdict column and a complementary Dorf on Law column, emphasizing in particular Elon Musk's completely ignorant but predictable endorsement of the Ponzi scheme accusation.
Conservative Confusion on Taxing Universities and Encouraging Charities

1 month ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

The budget bill that Republicans just passed in the House is simply terrible, and I will join in the chorus of criticism soon enough with a full column (or more) denouncing its overall awfulness. But in this relatively short column today, I will instead note two longstanding items on the Republicans' wish list that made their way into the current version of the bill and which will almost certainly survive to become part of whatever monstrosity is ultimately signed into law.
In Lieu of a "Last Lecture," I Offer These Thoughts

1 month ago | dorfonlaw.org | Neil H. Buchanan

Last Friday, Dorf on Law published a guest post, "A Message to Students: Fight for Democracy," which Professor Dorf described in his short editor's note as "an edited version ofBoston College Law Professor Kent Greenfield'sfinal lecture this past semester to his first-year constitutional law students." Professor Greenfield began his remarks by noting that this is the end of his thirtieth year teaching law, but his lecture was "final" in the sense of being the last of the semester, not of his...