Friday Reading: Raising the roof, economy in the gutter, & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• Megan MaCardle gives a run-down on what will happen if the ceiling is not raised
  The Atlantic: What Happens If We Don't Raising the Debt Ceiling?
• Charles Krauthammer on the Boehner Plan
  National Review: The Debt Ceiling Divide
  

  Consider the Boehner plan for debt reduction. The Heritage Foundation’s advocacy arm calls it “regrettably insufficient.” Of course it is. That’s what happens when you control only half a branch. But the plan’s achievements are significant. It is all cuts, no taxes. It establishes the precedent that debt-ceiling increases must be accompanied by equal spending cuts. And it provides half a year to both negotiate more fundamental reform (tax and entitlement) and keep the issue of debt reduction constantly in the public eye.

• Thomas Sowell says it's time to deal
  RCP: Ideals vs. Realities
• Eugene Volokh on using an executive order to raise the debt ceiling
  Volokh Conspiracy: From Rep. James Clyburn on Executive Power
• Peggy Noonan says America has fallen out of love with Obama
  WSJ: They've Lost That Loving Feeling
• Pew charts independents' flee from the president
  Pew Research: Obama Loses Ground in 2012 Reelection Bid
• Economy grew only 1.3% in Q2
  Economy in U.S. Grows Less Than Forecast After Almost Stalling

Tuesday Reading: Epstein, the debt crisis, & more

• Obama hits approval rating low
• Prof. Epstein advocates the flat tax to solve the financial crisis
  Defining Ideas: Raise Taxes on the Poor
  

  Rather than increasing taxes on the rich, as the president wants, we need to increase taxes on the poor.  Our progressive system of taxation is a mistake—it is part of the reason why we are experiencing this fiscal crisis. Under a flat tax system, all income earners will have to foot their part of the bill for each new government program.

• Rick Perry's refusal to condemn New York's gay marriage legalization is raising eyebrows
  RCP: Perry, Conservatives, and Gay Marriage: An Evolving View?
• George Will contrasts Obama and Boehner's styles
  WaPo: Congress Stands Its Ground
• WSJ on last night's speeches
  WSJ: A Leadership Default
• Megan MaCardle is also unimpressed
  The Atlantic: The Subliminal Message of Tonight's Speech: We're Doomed

Monday Reading: Caplan on the split between conservatives and libertarians

GMU's Brian Caplan has an interesting post on the split between libertarians and conservatives.

For libertarians, to believe in liberty is to believe in massive rollback of the state.  For conservatives, to believe in liberty is to oppose further expansion of the state (at least in the economic realm).  For conservatives, "liberty" means defeating Obamacare.  For libertarians, "liberty" means separation of health and state - which means abolishing even ultra-popular programs like Medicare.

Read more here.

Watch the student debate at CATO here.

Thursday Reading: 10% unemployment, 2012, & more

• Reason interviews recent Nobel Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith on the housing bubble, Adam Smith, and libertarianism [above]
• Michael Barone assesses Obama's 2012 re-election chances
  The American: How to Understand Obama's Chances in 2012
• Jeff Reeves warns of 10% unemployment
  MarketWatch: Why We'll Have 10% Unemployment Soon
• Daniel Henninger on Paul Ryan's popularity and what it means in the GOP nomination contest
  WSJ: The Paul Ryan Factor
• New Israeli law allows civil suits against those who call for boycotts of Israeli companies
  Reason: Jewish Groups Speak Out Against Israel's Speech-Killing Boycott Law
• Megan MaCardle on some the hypocrisy of some spending "hawks"
  The Atlantic: Getting Specific on Spending

Wednesday Reading: Debt ceiling, sweltering heat, & more

• A Hayekian argument for raising the debt ceiling?
  Value Added: Hayek and the Debt Ceiling
• Federal workers are more likely to die than lose their jobs
  Reason: Death is the Most Effective H.R. Manager for Federal Employees
• Americans vote with their feet, and flee to more free states
  Volokh Conspiracy: Foot Voting for Freedom
• Why would anyone ever live in Washington, DC?
  WaPo: NOAA predicts heat index of 116 in Washington, D.C. Friday
• Institute for Humane Studies puts together a basic primer in Austrian Economics
  EconLog: Learn (Austrian) Economics in an Hour?

Economic Freedom & Quality of Life

This past weekend, at the Federalist Society's National Student Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia, Eric Alston of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation presented the above video on the relationship between economic freedom and quality of life.  The sobering video identifies the importance of economic liberty to high standards of living, and highlights how America is slipping down the ranks.

You can learn more at join the discussion at http://www.facebook.com/economicfreedom.

Tuesday Reading: SCOTUS roundup, Epstein on the debt ceiling, & more

• Watch Miguel Estrada's Supreme Court Roundup above
• Richard Epstein proposes a potential compromise
  Defining Ideas: A 'Debt Limit' Compromise

  The Republican strategy to rail against all new taxes is a misguided position. They should break ranks with Grover Norquist’s tax advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, whose “no new taxes” pledge has been taken by many members of Congress. In fact, the GOP should accept some tax increases, but fight hard to tie those increases to a flattening of the tax rates and to the largest possible increase in spending cuts. That would be a true ’debt limit’ compromise.

• Eighth Circuit strikes down St. Louis sign law on First Amendment grounds
  Reason: 8th Circuit Says St. Louis Must Tolerate Conspicuous Criticism
• Jimy Lowry says conservatives should think twice about a "balanced budget" amendment
  National Review: Against the Balanced Budget Amendment
• Nick Gillespie & Matt Welch opine on the future of American politics
  Reason: The Declaration of Independents

Friday Reading: Bad numbers for Obama & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• David Bernstein responds to some controversy stirred up by his op-ed on Justice Breyer
  Volokh Conspiracy: Follow Up on Breyer Op-Ed
• Things not looking so good for Obama's inevitable re-election
  Gallup: Obama - 39%, Generic Republican - 47%
• Russ Roberts elaborates on Keynesianism and the post-WWII boom
  Cafe Hayek: Keynes vs. Reality - 2
• Ezra Klein on five potential deals in the works (I know, I know.  Ezra Klein?!)
  Washington Post: Wonkbook: Five possible deals, and a slew of new warnings
• Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff on how public debt kills growth
  Bloomberg: Debt Endangers Growth
• Quote of the day:
  

  I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending. The question is, "How do you hold down government spending?" Government spending now amounts to close to 40% of national income not counting indirect spending through regulation and the like. If you include that, you get up to roughly half. The real danger we face is that number will creep up and up and up. The only effective way I think to hold it down, is to hold down the amount of income the government has. The way to do that is to cut taxes.
  

  Milton Friedman

Thursday Reading: Harvard docs hate fat kids & more

• Two Harvard doctors either (a) hate fat children or (b) know nothing about the state of child protective services in this country
  Journal of the American Medical Association: All Your Fat Kids Are Belong to Us
  Reason: Should Fat Kids Be Removed From Their Unfit Families For Their Own Good?
• Quote of the day:
  

  I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.
  

  William F. Buckley

• Steve Chapman asks whether anti-polygamy laws violate the Constitution
  Reason: Kody Brown and His Four Wives
• Something that has always bothered me about Keynesianism: the post WWII boom
  Cafe Hayek: Keynes vs. Reality
• Megan McAardle on one of the other constitutionally suspect aspects of Obamacare
  The Atlantic: Medicare Payment Reform: Still Acrimonious As Hell
• Keith Hennessey's guess on why Republicans are refusing Obama's debt deal offer (HT: Greg Mankiw)
  Keith Hennessey: The President’s offer is left of Bowles-Simpson
• Michael McConnell calls on the President to get specific on budget proposals
  WSJ: Budget Shell Games are Contrary to Law

Wednesday Reading: Barnett on "commerce," climate change, & more

• Randy Barnett blogs about his upcoming U of Illinois Law Review article replying to Jack Balkin's originalism
  Volokh Conspiracy: Jack Balkin's Interaction Theory of "Commerce"
  Article here
• Terry Eastland says more than just the healthcare market is at stake in the Obamacare litigation
  Weekly Standard: Liberty Is at Stake
• Brian Tamanaha says law schools are perpetuating class divisions
  Balkinization: How Law Schools Are Helping the Elite
• Ronald Bailey discusses the role of cognitive biases in the climate change debate
  Reason: Climate Change and Confirmation Bias
  

Tuesday Reading: Caylee's Law, Epstein, Alito, & more

Balko at HuffPo: Why Caylee's Law Is a Bad Idea

• Radley Balko, now at HuffPo, explains why "Caylee's Law" is a bad idea
  HuffPo: Why Caylee's Law Is a Bad Idea
• Ilya Somin elaborates and explains the role of political ignorance and laws named after crime victims
  Volokh Conspiracy: Political Ignorance and Caylee's Law
• Richard Epstein discusses federal automobile regulations
  Defining Ideas: Our Curious CAFE Culture
  

  Yes, we should eliminate CAFE standards, but we should not eliminate all regulation on automobile emissions. In particular, two types of regulation seem appropriate. The first is a set of user fees that are based on a combination of congestion and wear and tear on public highways. The second item to regulate is the emission risk from tailpipes. In addition, taxing standards should be set to induce new, lower-polluting cars to enter the market, thereby increasing the incentive to substitute in clean for dirty cars.

• Adam White profiles the newest conservative Supreme Court Justice
  Weekly Standard: The Burkean Justice
• David Bernstein on Breyer
  Volokh Conspiracy: Oliver Wendell Breyer
• New poll from Reason suggests that Americans are more radical than their politicians
  Reason/Rupe Poll: Cut the Debt By Cutting Government
• Matt Ridley discusses the secret behind humanity's rise
  WSJ: Humans: Why They Triumphed
• Quote of the day:
  

  There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money — if a gun is held to his head.
  

  P.J. O'Rourke
  

Fed-Soc'rs and Foreign Policy

Doves or Hawks?

One issue that has been the subject of much debate within the Federalist Society itself is the proper role of warfare in foreign policy.  Fed-Soc includes under its umbrella people who run the spectrum from hawkish neo-cons to libertarian pacifists.

If you're in the DC area, on Wednesday, the Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin and Bryan Caplan of GMU's Economics Department will debate foreign policy from a libertarian standpoint.  Caplan has presented his more dovish version of libertarianism many times, and you can read more about it here.  Somin, on the other hand, argues that libertarianism can be consistent with offensive warfare when necessary for humanitarian reasons.

Ilya Somin & Bryan Caplan Debate Libertarian Foreign Policy
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 @ 7 PM
George Mason Law School - Room 221
3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA

Monday Reading: Taxes, taxes, taxes, & more

Michael Ramirez, IBD Editorials

• The Journal charts Obama's trillion dollar tax fetish
  WSJ: Taxes Upon Taxes Upon...
• Megan McCardle sheds some light on the mythical Herbert Hoover
  The Atlantic: Hoover Was No Budget Cutter
• Albert Hunt previews the next SCOTUS term
  Bloomberg: High Court May Wade Into Election-Year Politics
• Tyler Cowen on Greece's options moving forward
  NYT: Choices for Greece, All of Them Daunting
• Libertarian (little "l") Republican presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson not a fan of the "Marriage Pledge"
  Volokh Conspiracy: Gov. Johnson on the “Marriage Vow”
  
• Becker and Posner discuss the decline in illegal immigration from Mexico and its implications

Friday Reading: Dems acquiesce to Constitutional limits on Congressional power & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• John Berlau calls Democrats' claims that the debt ceiling violates the 14th Amendment nonsense
  National Review: Constitutional Nonsense on Debt
  
• Reason's Tim Cavanaugh says the stimulus was a major success... unless it was meant to stimulate anything
  Reason: The Stimulus Was a Success
• Recovery Summer Part Deux: June's job make even the Times pessimistic
  NYT: Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery
• Krauthammer says the president is not being serious about the debt situation
  Washington Post: The Elmendorf Rule
• Megan McCardle questions whether Medicaid improves people's well-being
  The Atlantic: How Much Does Medicaid Improve Well-Being?
• David Kopel talks Second Amendment and the Seventh Circuits recent decision on the Chicago gun range ban
  Volokh Conspiracy: Ezell’s doctrinal rules for the Second Amendment
  

Would You Give Up The Internet For 1 Million Dollars?

HT to Randy Barnett at VC

Thursday Reading: Balanced budget amendment, illegal immigration, & more

• David Savage (unsympathetically) profiles Justice Thomas
  LA Times: Clarence Thomas Doesn't Mind Being the Odd Man Out
  
  
• The Gray Lady reports on the recent decline in illegal immigration
  NY Times: Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North
  
  
• Michael Barone lambasts the Sixth Circuit's ruling that it is racially discriminatory for a state to ban racial discrimination
  Washington Examiner: Racial Quotas, Speech Codes and the Thought Police
  
  
• Senators Snowe and Demint argue for a "Balanced Budget" constitutional amendment
  WSJ: The Only Reform That Will Restrain Spending
  
  
• Randy Barnett's Bill of Federalism
  Forbes: A Bill Of Federalism
  

Wednesday Reading: Chinese Liberalism, Stossel on college, & more

WSJ: Liu Junning on Chinese Liberalism

• Penn Law's David Skeel on bankruptcy and the auto industry bailout
  EconTalk: Skeel on Bankruptcy and the Auto Industry Bailout
  
  
• John Stossel rejects common wisdom on the usefulness of college
  RCP: The College Scam
  
  
• Arnold Kling discusses the merits of non-profits vs. for-profits
  EconLog: More on Profits v. Non-Profits
  
  
• Liu Junning argues for China's tradition of liberalism
  WSJ: The Ancient Roots of Chinese Liberalism
  
  
• IBD says that the left has come around to its own version of the Laffer Curve
  IBD: A Laffer Curve for Liberals
  
  
• Becker and Posner on the shortage of primary-care physicians and Obamacare

Fed-Soc Symposium on Cybersecurity

The national chapter of the Federalist Society hosted a panel on cybersecurity last week.  Watch the videos below.  (HT to Orin Kerr at VC).

Tuesday Reading: Jets, debts, & more

• Richard Epstein criticizes Obama's war on corporate jets
  Defining Ideas: Would We Ever Ground Air Force One?
  
  
• Books you hide away when polite company comes over:
  The Browser: Top 10 Books on American Conservatism
  
  
• Charles Krauthammer is bearish on employment prospects for the middle-aged
  RCP: Middle Aged May Never Get Employed Again
  
  
• Heather Williams reviews the Reason editors' new book, The Declaration of Independents
  RCP: Hipsters Against the (Political) Machine
  
  
• Megan McCardle tries to remind Washington that defaulting on the debt is kind of a big deal
  The Atlantic: The Lunatics are Burning Down the Asylum
  
  
•  George Will reviews the latest book on the financial crisis
  Washington Post: Burning Down the House

Friday Reading: Obama's DOJ hates cancer patients & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• Pot for me, but not for thee: Obama's DOJ encourages federal prosecution of medical marijuana
  Hit & Run: DOJ Says Prosecuting State-Authorized Medical Marijuana Suppliers Is 'Entirely Consistent' With Not Prosecuting Them
  
  
• Anthony Gregory discusses why leftists so dislike libertarians (except at NYU)
  LewRockwell.com: Why the Left Fears Libertarianism

  But libertarianism, however weak its influence today, is a much greater long-term threat to the left than is any form of conservatism, and the leftist intellectuals sense this even if they can't articulate why. Leftism, whether they know it or not, is a distorted permutation of the classical liberal tradition. The statist left did their deal with the devil - the nation-state, centralized authority of the most rapacious kind - supposedly with the goal of expediting the liberation of the common man and leveling the playing field. More than a century since the progressives and socialists twisted liberalism into an anti-liberty, pro-state ideology, they see that they have made a huge mess of the world, that, as they themselves complain, social inequality persists, corporatism flourishes, and wars rage on. As the chief political architects of the 20th century in the West, they have no one to blame but themselves, and so they target us - the true liberals, the ones who never let go of authentic liberal idealism, love of the individual dignity and rights of every man, woman and child, regardless of nationality or class, and hatred of state violence and coercive authoritarianism in all its forms.

• Megan McCardle copes with shocking new evidence that voters prefer government handouts to higher taxes and lower spending (gasp!)
  The Atlantic: Breaking: Voters Prefer Free Stuff to Higher Taxes, Lower Spending
  
  
• Chaos reigns: Minnesota state government shuts down
  
  
• Is Obama's call for ending tax breaks for corporate jets just a stalking horse for tax increases?
  WSJ: GOP Attacks Obama’s Call for Ending Tax Breaks for Corporate Jets