Does Puerto Rico really want to become the 51st US state? - CSMonitor.com

Does Puerto Rico really want to become the 51st US state? - CSMonitor.com: "However, one third of the voters who answered the first question didn't bother answering the second question, meaning none of the options reached a majority."

Soak the Rich? - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Daily

Soak the Rich? - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Daily: "The legal requirement of time-and-a-half wage rates for overtime is based on the assumption that progressive incentives are necessary to get people to work longer and that progressive rewards are justified as the workload increases. But the present income tax is based on precisely the opposite principle of decreasing rewards for increasing work."

"The progressive income tax skims off precisely the funds most likely to go into new investment — into building the new tools and equipment that increase the productivity of the country and lift the living standards of the workers. It slows down the rate of economic progress."

After Obama win, say goodbye to neocons - CSMonitor.com

After Obama win, say goodbye to neocons - CSMonitor.com: "But while there will be fewer boots on the ground, that doesn't mean Obama doesn't have an aggressive foreign policy of his own. It's just of a different style. The president seems as fond of using drones to kill America's alleged enemies abroad as ever, for instance. Obama has ordered alleged Al Qaeda-style militants killed by the hundreds on his watch in Pakistan and Yemen.

This undeclared drone war probably won't abate, with reports from Washington that Obama officials have been working on ways to justify the killings as legal, even when they involve the assassination of American citizens. "

The Myth of "Surgical Strikes" on Iran | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Myth of "Surgical Strikes" on Iran | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary: "between 3,500 and 5,500 people would be present at the time of the strikes, most of whom would be killed or injured"

"Iran has built its nuclear facilities in major urban centers making it impossible to carry out surgical strikes without killing large number of civilians."

"attacks at Isfahan and Natanz would release existing stocks of fluorine and fluorine compounds which would turn into hydrofluoric acid"
"these toxic plumes could kill virtually all life forms in their path."

"If we assume a conservative casualty rate of 5 to 20% among these populations, we can expect casualties in the range of 12,000-70,000 people."

Class Warfare: The Mortal Enemy of Economic Growth and Jobs | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Class Warfare: The Mortal Enemy of Economic Growth and Jobs | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: "regardless how smart politicians and bureaucrats might be, they have only a miniscule fraction of the total knowledge in a society. Politicians and bureaucrats tend to have book learning that's related to academic credentials, whereas specific, practical knowledge needed to make an economy work is dispersed among multitudes of ordinary people. "

"Private individuals not only have such knowledge, they have stronger incentives than politicians or bureaucrats to use the knowledge effectively."

"progressive taxation has contributed to hideous complexity in the tax code. This is because the higher tax rates go, the stronger the incentives various interest groups have to lobby for special treatment, and since politicians always need more campaign contributions, they're eager to oblige lobbyists. The more complex the tax code, the more arbitrary and capricious enforcement is sure to be. With high top rates, progressive taxation promotes an illusion of "fairness," while causing considerable unfairness."

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."

Why Is There So Much Government Waste? | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why Is There So Much Government Waste? | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The one thing that these ridiculous expenditures all have in common is that they are a direct result of people being able to spend other people’s money. In Congress’s case, we have 535 people with trillions of other people’s dollars to spend. That they’re content to fritter billions away on toys for special interests shouldn’t be shocking."

"There’s also a good chance that while they’re upset with a particular expenditure, they’re okay with the general mission of the program responsible for the waste."

"First, so long as the federal government can spend money on anything it wants, politicians are going to spend money on anything they want. Second, contrary to what we’re taught in school, policymakers generally allocate money on the basis of political and parochial concerns — not on the basis of sound economics or even the so-called “public interest.”"

Beware the ‘lesser-of-two-evils’ trap

Beware the ‘lesser-of-two-evils’ trap: "The founders chose the lesser of two evils – because it led to the greater good. For them, the greater evil, worse than allowing slavery – which they realized would come to an end before too many decades – would have been to allow the disintegration of the United States of America to continue, to permit history’s greatest birth of liberty to be smothered in the cradle."

Good point. But there were also other options (i.e. North USA and South USA). Also, I don't think anyone can complain about the poor choices if they didn't first work to improve those choices (i.e. vote in primary, support their candidate, support good lower candidates that may one day be presidential candidates, etc).