Rating: 
Summary: A Hard Hitting Account of Whats Wrong the United States
Review: The United States has 5% of the worlds populaton, yet 50% of the worlds lawyers. We have a problem here, too much law, too many inflexiable rules, and too many bottom feeders (lawyers). The book describes very well everything from farmers being made criminals on their own land for working soil which is the home to some endangered and useless rodent; $1.5 billion spent some nonendangered spotted owl; nonequal equal rights; and the loss of property rights and other freedoms. The writer is to be commended for explaining how educated fools, lawyers and politicians with good educations and no common sense are strangling freedom and liberty with heavy handed and misguided law. This book is a "must read" for all citizens.
Rating:
Summary: Seminal Legal Work
Review: IN short, this book is a seminal work. It is a must read for those interested in law and public policy, and those bafled by the dizzying array of new laws and regulated promulgated each year. Howard does a masterful job of pointing out the mind numbing stupidity of certain laws and regulations, and how they adversely affect public policy. Using an array of anecdotes, stories, and examples, Howard drives home one simple point: We are a law happy society, and because of it, we are unable to use common sense or discretion to solve problems which are becoming increasingly unmanageable. From Mother Teresa to Superfund, Howard exposes the inherent contradictions of certain health and safety laws, and explains why this is the case. He also gets a bit more philisophical towards the end, explaining that the use of "offensive" rights has been the main culprit for some of these mind numbing laws, and that we need to use rights only as a defensive posture. Hats off to Mr. Howard.
Rating: 
Summary: Reason is dead in America
Review: Affirmative action legislation creates an atmosphere stifling the very goals it seeks to achieve. Environmental law pollutes our air and water. The cry for the rights of the few denies the same rights for the many. These are but a few of the outrageous abuses perpetrated on the American public by a well-meaning legal system run amok. Phillip Howard details horrid abuses of the American lifestyle in this fast-read book perpetrated by a bureaucracy that is no longer able to get out of its own way and so ensnarls public servants that they are unable to fulfill the very roles with which they have been charged. Howard talks of a charitable fund run by the organization with which Mother Theresa was involved. They bought from the city of New York a number of dilapidated structures and sought to renovate them for the homeless. However, when it came time to open them, the city decided that the three-story structures required the installation of elevators at $100,000 per building. The charity did not have the funds to install the elevators and so the homeless were denied clean, warm housing in the interests of not forcing them to endure the evils of walking up a flight of stairs. OSHA promulgates thousands of pages of documents to protect American workers from the tyranny of unsafe working environments resulting in an atmosphere where the use of a hammer or stepladder is covered in hundreds of pages of unintelligible legalese. Howard talks at length of one firm which has now accepted the fines levied by OSHA as an expense of doing business since it is not humanly possible to comply with all of the requirements. In order to protect its workers, it instead implemented a "Safety First" campaign of its own imploring common sense while OSHA inspectors chose to concentrate on tape measures showing banisters to be installed at 44" from the floor rather than the 48" required by law. And "Common Sense" is exactly the thrust of the book. We are "entertained" with tales of OSHA determining that bricks are a hazardous substance -- not because someone might hit you over the head with one, but because if one is sawed in half, the dust particles might be inhaled. Affirmative action has created an atmosphere where a secretary in the government's employ who did not show up for work (and did not work when she showed up) could not be fired without years of legal battles while she was on "paid leave". The atmosphere leaves minority applicants in the position that they have to be not just qualified for a position but have to be far superior to the white, male competitor. Otherwise, employers feel they will face a lawsuit every time they need to discharge a minority employee for legitimate reason. The abuses go on and on. My only complaint with this relatively short work is that it could have shorter. Mr. Howard belabors and repeats many points thus detracting from an otherwise excellent book, which should be read by every citizen of America.
Rating:
Summary: Ammunition for those who love to hate "the system"
Review: One would think someone about to enter law school in the fallwould be disturbed by Howard's bashing of the very institution he willsoon become a part of. On the contrary, I was convinced it was a well-deserved bashing. Unlike the many self-proclaimed political critics who decry the era of big government without providing a single concrete example of what it is they're spouting off about, Howard illustrates just how ludicrous laws can be, and how those with power manage to hide behind them.
Rating:
Summary: Insiteful
Review: This book was exteremely well written. It is a very thought provoking book and a must read for all politicians as well as voters
Rating:
Summary: Lawyer's summ. of the drastic changes in America's legal sys
Review: This is a great book for anyone who has felt that there was
something fundamentally wrong with the US justice system, but
just wasn't sure what it was.
Using both anecdotal and historical evidence, Philip Howard makes the strong case that during the last few decades we
have tried to make everything so deterministic that common
sense has been lost.
I strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Quick read sure to anger and inform
Review: If you're the sort who enjoys fuming at absurd lawsuits and incomprehensible government action, Howard's "The Death of Common Sense" may well be right up your alley. A brisk read, the 200 or so pages here are filled with examples of government gone awry, absurd legal maneuvers, and public policies that defy common sense. Silly lawsuits and wholly unnecessary laws are central to Howard's rants on over-aggressive government. The book is filled with specific examples, usually followed by pretty sound reasoning as to WHY we, too, should be irritated. All that is missing are solutions. The author offers some, but they are few and far between. One thing is certainly welcome: Politics rarely intrude here. Well-written and to the point, Howard doesn't appear to be walking far to the right or the left. The political neutrality is welcome. There is probably a libertarian bent present, but it's hardly intrusive; this is not a political book. And in these times of overly political books, that is a classic Good Thing. A quick read, paced well with plenty of examples, this is a good pick for those who enjoy peering at the foibles of misguided government.
Rating: 
Summary: Storytelling Run Riot
Review: This book largely recycles stories popular among insurance executives, politicians pandering for campaign contributions, tort reformers, and other malefactors. Mr. Howard too often uses "common sense" to disguise a status quo that lets individuals or collectivities pollute or poison with impunity and with profit. He hopes to get away with the rhetoric of "common sense" by telling tall tales, often whoppers gleaned from the press, politicians, pundits, or, even worse, FORBES. Given Mr. Howard's credulity -- real or pretended -- no savvy, informed reader should grant the tall tales or Mr. Howard any credibility. But then, national newsmagazines did not lavish attention on this book because it appealed to the sophisticated or aware reader! That is too bad, because the United States could use thoroughgoing legal reforms IF such reforms are informed by actualities rather than anecdotes. Skip this grim brother. Read ACCIDENTAL JUSTICE by Bell and O'Connell or other balanced discussions written for thoughtful readers.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing that he offers no solutions
Review: This book provides a devastating critique of the blizzard of rules & regulations that government has promulgated in the past century and the damage they have caused to our society & our economy. Howard provides numerous examples of nonsensical regulations (New York City refusing to allow Mother Teresa to build a homeless shelter unless a $100,000 elevator is installed, the EPA ruling that bricks are poisonous because if they are sawn in pieces there may be some silicate particles, etc.), but these are easy targets. The most graphic illustration of the insanity of government regulation comes in his discussion of the Americans with Disabilies Act & the mayhem it has caused: kneeling buses spend a half hour during people's work commute, loading & unloading a wheelchair rider; public transportation vehicles end up with far less seats than before in order to accomodate the chairs; street curbs are ramped for the wheelchairs, but now the blind have trouble telling where the curb ends, etc. It's time to ask whether all this is a worthwhile price to pay to benefit a minute proportion of the population. Equally disturbing, is the discussion of Special Education. What is the sense of an educational system that devotes a huge proportion of it's resources to nearly ineducable students? The most interesting part of the book may be his examination of the motivation behind the regulatory scheme we now face. He points out that the original motivation for regulation was fairness. Social policy planners believed that only be having an elaborate & inflexible pattern of regulation that covered every eventuality, could you guarantee that bureaucrats would be freed from outside influences. However, the result has been to require that everyone follow the same scheme of rules, regardless of whether they make any sense. As Howard argues, this has brought us to a crisis point in American life. We are increasingly frustrated by the intrusion of these rules into our lives, increasingly distrustful of government & increasingly willing to find ways around these regulations. However, and this is a significant weakness of the book, Howard does not offer a real prescription for these problems. His critique is powerful enough that it's hard to believe that we wouldn't be better off if we scrapped all government regulation & started over, but Howard understandably shies away from any such radical solution. GRADE: B
Rating: 
Summary: A poor attempt at goverment reform at best.
Review: I am extremely dissapointed in this book. Yes, some of the information was interesting. However, there were no realistic suggestions for improvement. As far as the homeless shelter in NYC(I didn't know mother theresa made NYC her stomping grounds), it may seem frivolous to put an elevator in a homeless shelter. But hey guess what?! Big surprise, some people that are handicapped are homeless too. So I suppose they can just wait outside while a friend runs in and gets them a cup of soup and a roll. It seems to me that Phillip K Howard
is not familiar with people with disabilities or he would be singing an entirely different tune. Physical and mental handicaps are a fact of life, and instead of putting them in institutions, hiding them away, or perhaps even enforcing mandatory sterilization(ok I may be exaggerating a bit there). It is a fact of life, all "men" are created equal in the eyes of the law, and all of us are given the chance for the persuit of happiness. If Phillip K Howard had his way, we would be without laws protecting the handicapped, mentally ill, and indigent members of society. And yes, they need protection under the Law. Because if they are Not protected, people take advantage of or ignore the rights, needs and wants of an important group in our society. We all deserve the right to have a chance to contribute to society. So lets not have another wheelchair bound person drag themselves up the steps of a courthouse so he could appear for a trial. I guess Mr Howard missed that particular annecdote. I give this book 0 stars, if I am required to give it any, then make them negative.
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