I refer to Obama’s statement that law schools ought to award degrees after only two years of study. At least that is a step in the right direction, a change of pace from his almost unbroken string of ideas that make things worse. Using the bully pulpit to suggest that, in the case of lawyers, more education just isn’t worth the cost is something to praise.

I agree with Hans Bader’s argument here that having law school last two years doesn’t go far enough. States (and this is a state issue, not a federal one) should allow people to take the bar exam no matter whether they have gone to law school or not.

If it were adopted, Obama’s plan would throw a lot of law school professors out of work, and many of them would be the sorts who teach the courses Professor Charles Rounds called “bad sociology” in this Pope Center piece. Fine with me, but many of those profs must be thinking, “But I supported him! Now he suggests taking away my pleasant livelihood.”