Monthly Archives: February 2010

Congress to Close Up Shop

Posted on February 9, 2010 | Comments Off on Congress to Close Up Shop

Good news:

The House suspended votes for the rest of the week because of the impending snowstorm while the Senate may cancel votes on Wednesday.

The Republic is safe until at least Thursday.

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Posted in Political Animals

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Regulation of the Day 113: Throwing Snowballs

Posted on February 9, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 113: Throwing Snowballs

Two students at James Madison University in Virginia were charged with felonies for throwing snowballs at a snowplow and an unmarked police car. This is illegal in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Talk about an over-reaction. Arrested and jailed. For throwing snowballs.

While being a jerk isn’t a crime, there is some safety risk when moving vehicles are involved. But this really seems like the kind of incident that is better settled with a talking-to instead of a jail cell.

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NY Times Endorses Andrew Cuomo for Governor?

Posted on February 9, 2010 | Comments Off on NY Times Endorses Andrew Cuomo for Governor?

The New York Times apparently has a juicy profile on New York Gov. David Paterson in the works. It should run sometime this week. The Hill reports that ‘There has been speculation the piece will contain details about Paterson’s personal life that would result in his resignation.”

Paterson’s rival in the Democratic primaries, Andrew Cuomo, stands to benefit. Resignation or no, Paterson is already unpopular. And Cuomo has $16 million in campaign funds and counting.

Paterson’s resignation would also likely hurt the Republican candidate, Rick Lazio. Political junkies might remember him as the sacrificial lamb in Hillary Clinton’s 2000 senate race. By possibly sparing Mr. Cuomo a bruising Democratic primary, the Times may be assigning Mr. Lazio a similar role in this year’s gubernatorial race.

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Posted in Elections, Political Animals

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Sen. Shelby Lifts Holds

Posted on February 9, 2010 | 1 comment

Sen. Richard Shelby, who placed holds on over 70 of President Obama’s nominees, has lifted all but three of them. Politico reports:

A spokesman for the senator said Monday that with attention brought to these two concerns, the political maneuver had “accomplished” its goal and was no longer necessary.

Translation: “We were getting too much bad publicity.”

The three holds that Sen. Shelby is keeping in place have directly to do with the Alabama-based pork projects that he believes will make him look good to the Alabama voters he will be facing in November. So, in a way, nothing has changed.

This brings up a legitimate question: can earmarking abuse sometimes be an agent for smaller government?

Few, if any, of President Obama’s appointees will work to decrease the size and scope of government. Now that their path is cleared, they will probably do net harm to taxpayers. This is the nature of government workers, whether Republican or Democratic.

Sen. Shelby’s motive for blocking them is despicable: stealing from taxpayers to improve his re-election prospects. But one wonders if those same taxpayers would have been better off if Sen. Shelby had stuck to his guns.

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Posted in Earmarks, Economics, Elections, Political Animals, Public Choice

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Social Security, Health Care, and Partisan Hackery

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Social Security, Health Care, and Partisan Hackery

Megan McArdle points out a delicious piece of partisan hackery.

Back in 2005, President Bush proposed privatizing Social Security. This was one of his few good ideas. But because of poor salesmanship, it was less than popular. Nothing came of it. Rather than press on, The New York Times urged him to cave in, in accordance with the peoples’ wishes.

This year’s health care bill is similarly unpopular. Now The New York Times is urging President Obama to press on, against the peoples’ wishes.

Go read her whole post. It’s great.

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Posted in The Partisan Mind

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Federal Government Shuts Down Due to Snow

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Federal Government Shuts Down Due to Snow

Few people outside of the DC area are likely to notice, but the recent snowstorm shut down the federal government today. Another big snow is on the way, so the feds are also taking tomorrow off.

The Washington Post reports:

Official estimate [sic] that closing the federal government for a day due to the weather costs roughly $100 million in lost productivity and opportunity costs, meaning this weekend’s storm will have potentially cost taxpayers at least $250 million, for last Friday’s early dismissal and Monday’s and Tuesday’s closures.

That is dwarfed, of course, by the opportunity costs of having a $3.8 trillion federal government in the first place. Not to mention the productivity losses.The federal government spends $49.1 billion enforcing regulations that cost nearly $1.2 trillion. if even half of that were freed up, imagine the good that would come of it.

The billions and billions of dollars spent on earmarks and stimulus would do far more good if that money stayed in the productive sector, subject to the self-correcting mechanisms of profit and loss.

In short: America benefits when Washington busybodies take a few days off. So enjoy it while it lasts.

There is great wisdom in Mark Twain’s famous adage: “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the congress is in session.”

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Posted in Economics, Philosophy, Political Animals, regulation

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Regulation of the Day 112: Importing Pork Rinds

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 112: Importing Pork Rinds

The federal government is loosening its restrictions on importing pork rinds from Brazil. Rudolph Foods, Inc., an Ohio company, owns a factory in Brazil, and stands to benefit from the ruling.

Competitors are up in arms. Citing exotic illnesses like foot-and-mouth disease, one competitor told The Wall Street Journal, “It just takes one pig” that is infected to spread a disease… “The risk is low, but the consequences are really high.”

If that is his strongest argument, then the case against liberalization is as weak as it gets. Instead of using the power of government to hobble its rivals, this company should go out and improve its product. Make its pork rind recipe even tastier. And cheaper. Use the import liberalization to its own advantage if possible.

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Posted in Economics, Regulation of the Day, Trade

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Saints Win Super Bowl XLIV

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Saints Win Super Bowl XLIV

For the third year in a row, the Super Bowl was a good one. Two years ago, the Giants upset the perfect Patriots, leading to the famous “18 and uh-oh” headline. Last year, the Cardinals battled the Steelers down to the wire in a game filled with ups, downs, and big plays. Today, the Saints fought off an early deficit to beat the favored Colts in a close game. Congratulations to the Saints and their fans.

As I see it, there were two key plays. Both reflect the Saints’ high-risk style. The first was going for it on 4th-and-goal. It was the right decision, even though they failed. Make it, and you get a touchdown. But if you don’t, your opponent is pinned at the one-yard line. That is the last place your opponent wants to start a drive. And it’s exactly where you want your opponent to start a drive. Yes, Peyton Manning led a 96-yard drive during the game. But he couldn’t pull of this 99-yarder.

The other key play was the onside kick to start the second half. Most onside kicks fail. But nobody saw this coming. I mean nobody. When I first saw it, I thought the kicker shanked the ball. But the element of surprise worked. it didn’t look like the kick went the required ten yards. But a startled Colt touched the ball, and the Saints recovered fair and square.

Conventional NFL wisdom is that about the only way to beat the Colts is to keep the ball away from Peyton Manning. The Saints decided to apply that conventional wisdom in an unconventional way. And it worked.

So, again, this was a fun game to watch, congratulations to the victors, and here’s hoping my Packers will be in Super Bowl XLV.

Onward to baseball season!

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Posted in Sports

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Super Sunday

Posted on February 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Super Sunday

The Super Bowl starts in about four hours. I’m wearing my Aaron Rodgers jersey since I wish the Packers were playing, but I’ll be rooting for the Saints. In 43 seasons as a franchise, this is their first Super Bowl trip. As someone who grew up rooting for perpetually losing teams, I feel Saints fans’ pain. It would be good to see them win. Peyton Manning and the Colts got their rings a few years ago. I was rooting for them that day, not least because they played against the Bears.

After the game is over, an excruciatingly long 13 day wait begins. On that glorious day of February 20,  pitchers and catchers report for spring training. And my Brewers are looking pretty good this year. Their offense still looks top-notch. And they’ve done about as much as they could to improve their league-worst pitching staff. New pitching coach, lots of roster turnover. Can’t wait to see if the moves do any good.

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Posted in Sports

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Regulation of the Day 111: Buying Wine in New York

Posted on February 6, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 111: Buying Wine in New York

It is illegal for grocery stores to sell wine in the state of New York. Only liquor stores are allowed to sell the stuff.

This regulation, a relic of Prohibition, lives on because of one of the central concepts in public choice theory: diffused costs and concentrated benefits.

The benefits are concentrated in one constituency: liquor stores. Regulations give them get millions of dollars in free business. That means they have millions of reasons to lobby to keep the status quo.

Consumers, on the other hand, are hurt by the ban by the exact amount that liquor stores benefit. But that hurt is spread far and wide. No one consumer feels enough pain to hire a high-priced lobbyist to open up the market.

That means New York’s misguided restrictions on competition are likely to continue for some time. It’s hard to imagine an aggrieved shopper suing New York’s wine cartel because she has to make an extra trip to get the wine on her grocery list. Or because she pays a bit more than if she lived in a different state.

(Hat tip: Jonathan Moore)

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Posted in Economics, Public Choice, Regulation of the Day

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