Adapting to Climate Change Is Less Costly than Spending Trillions on Emission Targets | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary

Adapting to Climate Change Is Less Costly than Spending Trillions on Emission Targets | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Since global warming will raise sea levels and increase hurricane damage, the future of beachfront property and coastal cities should be bleak. People should be withdrawing to safety inland. But, people are rushing into coastal areas."

"their belief in global warming is quite shallow, more political correctness than deep conviction. Yes, they see some danger. But they do not see it as dangerous enough to change their lifestyle and investment style.

In effect, they expect some adaptation to solve the problem, avoiding any drastic sacrifices. The world has always faced a hundred problems, and has often mitigated these through new technology and other forms of adaptation without necessarily solving them. Eco-fundamentalists are opposed to adaptation to global warming: they want prevention. But prevention is costly, and lacks political will in key emitting countries. People are rushing into coastal cities: their wallets suggest they think adaptation will be enough even without drastic carbon cuts."

"Much of Holland is below sea level but it has adapted to cope. Pat Michaels of the Cato Institute shows that the sea level at Atlantic City has risen 16 inches in the last 100 years, more than the predicted rise in the next century by IPCC. Yet, Atlantic City has adapted so well that residents are scarcely aware of it."

No Good Excuses | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

No Good Excuses | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "No president had won reelection with unemployment above 7 percent since Franklin Roosevelt; it is now 7.9 percent. Three-quarters of voters thought the economy's performance is poor or just fair. Throw in a health-care law that voters opposed 49 percent to 43, turmoil overseas, and assorted scandals, and an observer from Mars would have said that there was no way Romney could lose."

"Tea-party voters would do well to realize that simply being anti-establishment is not enough for a candidate. Supporting a candidate with the charisma and talents of a Ted Cruz or a Jeff Flake makes sense. Supporting a Richard Mourdock simply because he shares similar political views doesn't work as well."

"nearly all Republicans who voted for the Ryan budget were reelected"

"It's not just that Republicans oppose abortion or gay marriage, but that they often sound intolerant and self-righteous in doing so."

Continuing Devastating U.S. War Crimes | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Continuing Devastating U.S. War Crimes | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Parents are afraid to send their children to school. Women are afraid to meet in markets. Families are afraid to gather at funerals for people wrongly killed in earlier strikes ...

What makes this situation even worse is that no one can tell people in these communities what they can do to make themselves safe. No one knows who is on the American kill list, no one knows how they got there and no one knows what they can do to get themselves off."

"The Bush Administration paid enormous bounties ... in areas rife with tribal and familial rivalries ... hundreds of innocent people were wrongly fingered (by Afghan informants) as Taliban or al-Qaida, many of whom (then) spent years at Guantanamo or other American prisons overseas."

Romney, as Reagan Did, Has It Right on Cutting Taxes | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Romney, as Reagan Did, Has It Right on Cutting Taxes | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to cut all marginal tax rates by 20%. Vice President Joe Biden, in the debate with Paul Ryan, emphatically repeated that, "it has never been done before."

Yet President Kennedy cut all tax rates by 22% in 1964, and President Reagan cut them by another 19% to 22% by mid-1983. The 1986 Tax Reform Act then cut the top rate to 28% in 1988-90."

"Aside from booms and busts, the individual income tax always brought in about 8% of GDP regardless whether the top tax rate was 91% or 28%."

"The reason individual tax revenues remained above 8% of GDP as top tax rates fell from 91% to 28% is that high-income taxpayers earn and report more income when marginal tax rates come down. Economists call this the "elasticity of taxable income," and the response is powerful in high tax brackets."

Election 2012: Let's Hear It for Cynicism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Election 2012: Let's Hear It for Cynicism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "As political scientist Colleen Shogan explains, all two-term presidents in the modem era have been plagued by some form of the "Sixth-Year Curse," characterized by "scandals, weakened political coalitions, and midterm electoral defeat.""

Of Kids and�Christmas - Desiring God

Of Kids and�Christmas - Desiring God: "It wasn’t like that first Christmas was a time of quiet reflection. Mary and Joseph were on a huge last-minute trip. And she’s big pregnant on a donkey? Think of it. It sounds like the worst travel experience of all time. No room. No bed. No privacy. Baby coming. Not just any baby either — one Mary knew was the Messiah. Angels? Shepherds dropping in? You think she felt dressed for that? I doubt Mary had time to throw together a cheese platter. She was in a barn, forced to place the King of kings — her Lord — in a trough. And I doubt her livestock roommates were quite as cute as they look in the storybooks."

Obamanomics Explained | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obamanomics Explained | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Obama suggests that raising the top two tax rates will turn deficits into surpluses, which would now be good for our economy. Isn’t he the one who used to say huge deficits were a “stimulus”?"

"The Obama Treasury estimates that taxing long-term capital gains at 20 percent “for upper-income taxpayers” (not counting the Obamacare surtax) would raise $5.8 billion in 2013, but lose $5.9 billion in the following two years. That adds up to less than zero."

Lies, Damned Lies, And Defense-Job Statistics | Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary

Lies, Damned Lies, And Defense-Job Statistics | Christopher Preble | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The Pentagon might be a jobs program, but it isn't a very efficient one. It creates the kinds of jobs that politicians like to claim credit for, but military spending doesn't produce more growth in the economy or generate more innovation than a comparable level of spending by private individuals, businesses, and entrepreneurs."

"no more than 3.53 million jobs — direct, indirect, and induced — are sustained by the defense industry, so it is barely credible that a 10 percent reduction in Pentagon spending would result in the loss of one-third of all defense-related jobs."

"it is appropriate for resources to shift out of the military sector and into private sector as wars end and threats diminish."

Congressional Control as Important as White House | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Congressional Control as Important as White House | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Again, it is obvious that big increases in government spending do not lead to higher growth rates and lower unemployment. To be considered valid, an economic model needs to be reasonably accurate in its predictions. The Keynesian models have failed this test time and time again over the past 100 years and, most recently, during the past four years. Unemployment was supposed to be less than 6 percent, but it is higher, at 7.9 percent, than it was when the president took office. (Note: The real unemployment rate is 14.6 percent because many have stopped looking for work.)

The Austrian and classical economists who have argued for lower spending and tax rates have proved again to be correct."

Survey shows more drugged drivers than drunken drivers in California on weekends | Fox News

Survey shows more drugged drivers than drunken drivers in California on weekends | Fox News: "The California Office of Traffic Safety said Monday that 14 percent of drivers surveyed tested positive for driving under the influence of illegal or prescription drugs.

A little more than 7 percent of drivers were driving with alcohol in their system."

"Marijuana was most prevalent with 7.4 percent of drivers having it in their system."