In miniature, January 22

• Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s financial transactions tax scheme “won’t raise any revenue” [Tim Worstall] Democrat from Eighth District also wants to push feds deeply into second-guessing employers’ wage policies, and supply/demand be damned [Washington Times]
• Following NYC and other jurisdictions, MoCo bans plastic foam containers and peanuts [Bill Turque, Washington Post]
• MoCo, P.G. officials hope new administration doesn’t do to them what some of their favorite governors did to the rest of the state [David Boaz]
• 27 Democratic lawmakers urge left-tilted economic agenda; only ones not from MoCo/PG/Howard/Baltimore corridor are Senator Ron and Delegate Karen Lewis Young [Maryland Reporter]
• MoCo plans crackdown on vaping, although it is a far safer substitute for cigarettes and imposes much less burden on those nearby [Gazette, more, related Jacob Sullum (“As more teenagers vape, fewer smoke”) and Ronald Bailey]
• State panel recommends following Virginia model of no-fault birth injury compensation fund to replace litigation [Daily Press]