AG Watch

On Bloomberg.com, Jonathan D. Salant provides a must-read look at the nationwide political fallout in AG races after Eliot Spitzer’s attorney generalship.

Why are AG races receiving such attention? Mr. Salant writes, “Business groups say overly aggressive state law-enforcement officials are driving up costs, making it harder to compete and forcing companies to shed jobs.” Mr. Salant also quotes John Engler, former governor of Michigan, saying, “Eliot Spitzer has done more to raise costs than most legislation passed by legislatures across the country.”

That is the second most distressing item in the column. Most distressing, of course, is the use of the word “Spitzerism,” which makes both philologists and rule-of-law types shudder.