The Impossibility of an Informed Electorate - D.W. MacKenzie - Mises Daily

The Impossibility of an Informed Electorate - D.W. MacKenzie - Mises Daily: "However, even those who follow politics very closely do not understand the implications of changes in public policy. The lesson here is that efforts to incrementally reform government policies and programs through the democratic process are futile. To the extent that we vote at all, rational people should vote to depoliticize the economy."

Kind slips past Kapanke to retain seat

Kind slips past Kapanke to retain seat: "Kapanke said it was easier to lose on a night when his party regained control of the U.S. House as well as both chambers of the state legislature.
“It was never about me,” he said. “The country’s in better hands. The state is in better hands.”"

"Outside interest groups targeted the largely agricultural district with an unprecedented level of spending — almost exclusively on the right — bankrolling attacks on Kind."

According to http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2010&id=WI03 Kind received over $1,000,000 in PAC money (compared to $55,000 for Kapanke) -- that doesn't count "soft money" but it sounds like Kind got a lot of money from "Outside interest groups".

The GOP Must Fight Earmarks | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

The GOP Must Fight Earmarks | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "It is worth remembering that Ronald Reagan once vetoed a highway bill because it contained 152 earmarks, which he called 'a textbook example of special-interest politics at work.' Twenty years later, Republicans managed to put together a highway bill that contained 6,371."

"Many of the scandals that beset the last GOP Congress were the result of earmarks."

"earmarks are part and parcel of the deal-making and horse-trading that greases the skids for so much bad legislation in Washington. Vote against the leadership's pet legislation and your earmark gets cut off; vote for it and your district gets some delicious pork. And nothing helps an otherwise terrible bill gather votes better than stuffing it full of earmarked goodies for wavering lawmakers. Therefore, even a very small earmark can be used to leverage far more costly government spending."

"earmarks crowd out local private-capital investment and research-and-development spending, thereby slowing economic growth."

"If Republicans can't end earmarks, how can we expect them to make hard decisions when it comes to something like entitlements?"

Postal Bankruptcy | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Postal Bankruptcy | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The USPS is in crisis. It is locked in a declining market. It can only survive with indirect taxpayer subsidies and a ban on private competition. Instead of forcing Americans to pay more for less service, Congress should open mail delivery to all comers.

The Constitution authorizes Congress "To establish Post Offices." But Congress is not required to institute government mail delivery, let alone a public mail monopoly. Today there is competition only in packages and urgent delivery. For regular mail, you must use the USPS, or else."

"the post office threatened to sue Boy Scouts who proposed delivering Christmas cards during the holidays. When the USPS learned of companies sending international mail abroad with traveling employees, it demanded payment for services not rendered."

"Years ago Australia, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden liberalized their postal regimes. The result, reported the OECD, was 'quality of service improvements, increases in profitability, increases in employment and real reductions in prices.' Since then the European Union has pushed continent-wide liberalization, especially by reducing the forms of mail "reserved" to government operations."

"the system remained bounded by regulations, cushioned by subsidies, and protected by its monopoly. In particular, USPS is exempt from taxes, regulations, and even parking tickets. Nevertheless, since 1971 the post office has lost money in 24 of 38 years."

"The average USPS salary is $83,500, which makes postal employees among the highest paid semi-skilled workers around."

Biggest Election Night Losers: Self-funded Candidates - OpenSecrets Blog | OpenSecrets

Biggest Election Night Losers: Self-funded Candidates - OpenSecrets Blog | OpenSecrets: "Of the 58 federal-level candidates who contributed at least a half-million dollars to their own campaigns, fewer than one in five won the seat they had sought"

"Historically, self-financed candidates have had limited success at the federal level. Most of the candidates who've spent the most during the past two decades have lost"

Scott Walker: Time for GOP to put up, or shut up - JSOnline

Scott Walker: Time for GOP to put up, or shut up - JSOnline: "Gov-elect Scott Walker told reporters in Milwaukee that after his election and a national Republican sweep that now 'it's put up or shut up time' for him and other newly elected leaders.

He said he and other new Republican office holders must do exactly as they promised voters in their campaigns."

Who saved the day in Yemen bomb plot? Once again, a Muslim. - CSMonitor.com

Who saved the day in Yemen bomb plot? Once again, a Muslim. - CSMonitor.com: "But many of the key pieces of intelligence that set those networks into action came from Muslims – some former militants themselves – who have stepped forward to stop Islamist militants."

GOP Won on Economy, So Focus on It | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary

GOP Won on Economy, So Focus on It | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary: "It always feels great to win an election. But the real job for fiscal conservatives and smaller-government advocates starts now.

The usual pattern is that after the election, voters and the activists go back to their normal lives, but organized interests redouble their efforts to influence policymakers. The people who want something from government hire lobbyists, make political contributions and otherwise do all they can to get their hands on taxpayers' money."

"victorious Republicans must demonstrate to voters that they're serious — finally — about more freedom and less government."

"Republicans pledged to repeal it, and should keep their promise to voters. But, of course, the Senate and the president aren't likely to go along with a repeal bill. So the House should refuse to appropriate money to implement the bill's provisions, and prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from spending any money to implement the bill's worst provisions — especially the individual mandate."

"As noted, the moment the polls close, the organized interest groups descend on the new members of Congress. From pharma to farmers, from oil companies to the Social Security/Medicare lobbyists, everybody wants to pay off a campaign debt and take a senator to a game at the Verizon Center. Republicans — and Democrats — need to show some virtue and resist these organized interest groups. The country's overriding interest is to reduce spending, the deficit and the national debt. That means keeping a comfortable distance between lobbyists and the public trough. One tactic might be for the House to pass a continuing resolution to fund agencies at 90 percent of current spending, bypassing the notoriously porcine appropriations subcommittees."

Will the Republican win turn into a conservative win?

The Republican party won big last night -- especially in Wisconsin where they took the Governor, Senate, and Assembly. Now we will have to see if they stick to the conservative ideals that I think most people expect of them.

Man bites dog? Google sues the government | Relevant Results - CNET News

Man bites dog? Google sues the government | Relevant Results - CNET News: "the Interior Department specified that the system needed to be part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite"

So what choices were there besides that?