The good news is that, in Maryland, Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is urging the state to move away from race-based contracting preferences. “I do not believe in the segregation of the work forces,” said Steele, an African American, to the Baltimore Business Journal. “We don’t want to stigmatize a business before it gets out of the starting block. We want fair and equal opportunity and access to bid on and receive the benefits for a state contract.”

The bad news is that common scold Martha Burk has succeeded in persuading a group of Democratic lawmakers to introduce federal legislation that would make it illegal to take income-tax deductions for expenses at private clubs that exclude women. Whatever you think of male-only clubs, clearly the federal government has no business trying to coerce them into changing their policies.