Issues of the Week Roundup

Law:

The WSJ looks at Empress Casino v. Giannoulias, a case in Illinois regarding taxing and “illegal” taking.

This wasn’t entirely unexpected but an effort to replace civil marriage with civil unions  is underway in California. Students are petitioning to get the measure added to the June 2010 Ballot.

Then Barney Frank says he hopes gay marriage doesn’t arrive at the Supreme Court because Justice Scalia is a mean, nasty, homophobe, and has “too many” votes. This would be laughable it weren’t so wrong.

International News:

Vanity Fair’s truly horrible feature on Iceland, that exotic country in the North Atlantic, is debunked by Daily Intel, hilariously.

Bret Stephens wonders if the President will listen to Iran’s Bloggers.

Daniel Larison and Alex Massie do not take to Stephen Walt’s rather unrealistic view of Iran’s nuclear program.

If you’re interested in our unmanned/undeclared war in Pakistan, Danger Room has an interesting look at the increase in use of our UAV’s.

The Daily Telegraph declares Mexican drug wars now worse than Iraq. I would add, funded here and much closer to home, too.

Economy:

Forbes editorial intern, Lily-Hayes Kaufman wonders why Congress is killing the American Dream by cracking down on H1-B Visa use and expansion. Most likely because it’s easier to tell their constituents that their jobs and dreams are safe from marauding, skilled, and faceless foreigners than to fix a semi-broken system.

Politics:

I, too, find OFA to be really, really creepy. However, analogies to Hitler’s youth are entirely inappropriate.

Though a tad bit too cynical, I like Daniel Larison’s view of the Geihtner-Obama relationship. The cries that the President protects his friends, I think, wilfully ignores recent history.

Thankfully the Senate has ‘tabled’ that stupid bonus bill. As a parting shot, three op-eds that I think are worth keeping in mind.

• Noah, a contributor to this site, once remarked that higher taxes don’t actually provide a disincentive to work. 90% taxes might.
• The WSJ editorial board wonders what might happen if foreign countries view the bonus bill as indicative of future political histrionics and legal instability.
• Suzanne Garment thinks the President was irresponsible in his AIG response. I think she unfairly judges the situation and the President’s ability to not express some anger, but I her point about the danger of populist anger and attempting to lead or direct it is well taken.

Pluses and Minuses: The minus here is Gloria Borger’s account of the troubles of the Obama vetting protocol. I think it shines a light on the ridiculous byproducts of well-intentioned but flawed rule-making.

The plus, here, is the Administration: “We didn’t want to label people as ‘good lobbyists’ or ‘bad lobbyists.’” Good, because such a distinction is unhelpful and counter-productive.

Nibbly Things:

Carbon Motors’ new, amazing, Police supercar.

Irate travel bloggers see results, perks.

Alexis Carrington, role model for the ages.

~ by Kyle on March 24, 2009.