Tensions boil over at gas stations as pumps run dry in wake of Sandy | Fox News

Tensions boil over at gas stations as pumps run dry in wake of Sandy | Fox News: "more than half of all gasoline service stations in the New York City area and New Jersey have been shut down because they are either out of fuel or don’t have power to operate pumps."

Why don't they get generators? Surely many people with generators would be willing to trade some generator time for gasoline!

"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie moved to increase supplies of gasoline and diesel by waiving requirements that make it harder for stations to buy from out-of-state suppliers."

Why should there be requirements like that even in normal times?

"Rivaling the demand for gas was the scarcity of D batteries, the kind most flashlights use."

Are LED flashlights illegal there? Where they left behind when many switched?

It's All or Nothing. I Prefer Nothing | Arnold Kling | Cato Institute: Commentary

It's All or Nothing. I Prefer Nothing | Arnold Kling | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Apart from consumer protection against predatory practices, the condition of the mortgage market need not merit government concern. If mortgage interest rates are higher than rock-bottom, then so be it. Above all, if businesses involved in mortgage lending become insolvent and have to go through bankruptcy, then so be it."

"Over time, through nimble financial innovation and effective lobbying, the private firms will manipulate any such system so that the profits become privatized and the risks become socialized. No matter how hard they try, policy wonks and regulatory staff cannot prevent this inevitable outcome."

Have Faith in the American Voter | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary

Have Faith in the American Voter | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Of course, the ads are expectedly political — heavy on rhetoric, and relatively light on substance — but Americans know this. Political speech is like any other form of advertising, and Americans, flooded as they are with advertisements of all kinds, thus already know to take political advertisement with a grain of salt.

Political ads have little to no effect on the ideologically committed. A life-long Democrat will assume a Romney-Ryan ad is making misleading and inaccurate claims, and a committed Republican will think the same about ads supporting President Obama.

Both partisans will roll their eyes and ask, "Who would be convinced by this stuff?" They will then imagine that hypothetical person, someone hypnotized by campaign rhetoric and beguiled by mellifluous narrators."

"Studies show that political ads increase both voter engagement and knowledge.

Strong ads are often criticized for "negative" messages that sully politics. But forceful, critical political speech works — it informs, it excites and causes people to perk up and listen — and that is what makes it valuable campaign rhetoric."

"Allowing the government to regulate misleading, inaccurate or negative speech not only puts too much trust in government officials who have a vested interested in curtailing speech directed against them, it puts too little trust in the American people."