Wisconsin May Allow Conceal Carry
Wisconsin is one of six states--the others being Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri--that prohibit conceal carry. (Others allow it, to varying degrees.) There has been an effort afoot in the state legislature to enact a conceal carry measure (allowing anyone who completes a safety class, lacks a criminal record or record of mental illnesss, etc.) in the Badger state. Opponents a bringing up the standard "wild west" arguments. (Thanks to Instadpundit for the pointer.)
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History of mistrust scuttles Alabama plan
Writing for The New Republic, Jason Zengerle attributes the NO vote among Alabama's low-income blacks to a history of mistrust. He quotes a state representative, who is black: "[W]hen a rich, white, Republican governor comes in and says I'm doing something that's going to lighten your load and increase the load on my natural constituents, that's not easy for black people to swallow." For the cause of fiscal discpline, the defeat of the proposal was a good thing (even if the state's tax system may need reform--quite a different matter from tax increases). But it's going to make it more difficult to boost charter schools, or better yet, enact a voucher system that would do more for education than pumping more tax money into the existing system.
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Alabamians Just Say No
As Governor Bob Riley's plan to reform the tax system and impose huge tax hikes--nearly 20 percent over four years--was rejected by Alabama's voters yesterday. The measure did not garner even one-third of the vote, going down 68 percent to 32 percent. Over half of the voters--53 percent--turned up, exceeding the turnout of a special measure on a state lottery (defeated) a few years ago.

The Washington Post notes that the $1.2 billion tax hike would have been eight times the size of the next largest increase.

Riley has been hoping to call a special session of the legislature to outline ways to spending the new loot. Instead, they'll have to find a way, as many states have done, to plug a deficit without raising taxes. This could be a true opportunity for reforming Alabama government; there's nothing like a crisis to bring about painful but necessary changes (Note: This AP story mentions that "many" states--citing California and New York--raised taxes, but neglects to mention states such as Michigan that did not.) The Post says that the state will be forced to make "large spending cuts." More important for the future, though, is reform, such as increased use of private contractors and competitive bidding for state services, increased reliance on non-government schools, and increased consumer involvement in health care decisions.

Here's another lesson from Alabama: constitutional requirements to seek voter approval (something Riley faced) are strong impediments to increasing tax rates.
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The God Tax
Doug Bandow offers his take on the claim that Christian charity requires higher taxes. He points out that the average family would incur another $1,200 annually in taxes under a proposal being voted on today in Alablama, and adds that the state could tap its roughly $2.5 billion "rainy day" fund, as well as pursue long-term reform of government services.

"According to our Christian ethics, we're supposed to love God, love each other and help take care of the poor." True, but what does that have to do with government levying higher taxes?

True, Bandow agrees, the Scripture does say that to whom much is given, much shall be required--but the expectation comes from the Lord Himself; advocates of the tax increase would channel that requirement into higher taxes. But the Biblical model, especially in the New Testament, is one of a government that takes care of security issues, and families and communities taking care of each other on a personalized basis--something beyond the competency of government and the tax system.
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Who Should Decide Where Powerlines Go?
One thing the recent blackout has highlighted is the need for greater capacity and more reliability in the transmission of electricity.

The policy and political question becomes "who should approve the siting of new powerlines, and which level of government should have the power of eminent domain to use the takings power, if necessary, to build new towers and run lines?"

The debate pits states-rights advocates versus some of their allies in the conservative movement. Stateline.org provides a review of the controversy. For my money, if the feds have the power to determine where natural gas lines go, they, not the states, ought to have the authority to decide where powerlines go. Electric gas lines, like natural gas lines, a utilities serving multiple states, and so (perhaps--I haven't thought this all the way through) they should be treated in the same way.
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Light Blogging Ahead
This week will be light on blogging. I have some things to do to get ready for a conference, and then actually attend the conference. But a few interesting things will be coming up this week, including today's "Jesus Tax" vote in Alabama.
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I'm from the government, and I really am here to help you
Surfing the web, I came across this story from the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Legislators in most (all?) states have research staff at their disposal. In Minnesota, at least, they serve not only to answer requests from legislators about legislative history or budget estimates; they also help prisoners plead for new underwear, and farmers dispose of itinerent cows.

Granted, it can make sense to contact a member of a legislative staff if the issue at hand touches on the government. Since so many things DO, however, staff are subject to getting all sorts of bizarre requests from would-be voters. Anything for job security.
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The "credibility of state government itself" is at stake.
That's the view of Paul kersey, a research associate for the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Commenting on the game of "chicken" being played by the governor and state employee unions, Kersey says that it's imperative for the two to come to an agreement on $230 million in concessions in employee compensation. Governor Granholm, prompted by the legislature, has come up with a budget that does not require substantial tax increases, but she's got to get concessions from the employees--deferred pay, lower pay, higher insurance premiums, more flexible work hours, something--or the budget deal will collapse. Union officials are willing to sacrifice up to 3,000 state employees to layoffs, calculating that the public would rather pay higher taxes than endure expected cuts in services. Granholm, I suspect, could find various ways to deliver essential state services even with layoffs.
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Junior Gets a New Laptop--But Can He Write?
An elementary school district in Schaumburg, Illinois, has purchased 5,200 laptop computers for students. (There are over 14,000 students in the district.) The school system is doing this because .... it can. (It has a substantial tax base, including the second largest mall in America.)

The superintendent says the laptops are important, regardless of what effect they have on learning, because "We're not in the age of slates, blackboards or pencils." Allegedly, the students not be using these computers as a taxpayer way of playing sophisticated video games or receiving email on how to enlarge specified body parts. Instead, they are meant to be a way to develop writing and research skills. The superintendent says "the amount of writing a student can do typing on the laptop compared to handwriting is amazing. You become a good writer the more you write."

As a fast typist, I can testify to the fact that a computer does allow for expanded output. But whether that leads to good writing is another story entirely. Quality is not the same as quality, after all, and if the students are being poorly taught (I have no idea if they are being poorly taught in Schaumburg), it doesn't help their education if they double their output.
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Tyranny is Unhealthy for Children and Other Living Things
Yesterday I spent an hour in the boiling sun walking in a local parade. (It was a favor to a friend.) Along the route, I noticed a sticker affixed to a street sign. It said "Imagine Iraqi Children," or something like that.

I'm still not entirely sure what the purpose of that sticker was, but it brought to mind the old saw "War is unhealthy for children and other living things." It's the children, you see.

Yes, imagine the Iraqi children--the children whose parents were tortured by the desposed tyrant. Imagine the Iraqi children whose family members were killed by the murderous Baathist regime.

Imagine the young Iraqi women who were subject to the Sexual Predator-in-Chief and his two thuggish offspring.

I suspect that the sticker was meant to evoke opposition to the U.S.-led war. But as I see it, it only reminded me that war is sometimes a just cause.
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If Big Money is Involved, Call Congress: Tulane President Wants Football Cash
With the college football season underway, here's some news on an the intersection between sports, money, and politics. And it doesn't involve public funding of stadiums, either.

There are 117 teams in big college football (Division I-A, to use the term of the NCAA). Roughly 60 teams belong to the 6 conferences that are part of the big money BCS, an agreement created to match up teams for big money bowl games. How big is big? Over $500 million--half a billion dollars--a year in payments from broadcasters.

The universities in the BCS-affiliated conferences--(Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, Southeast)--have it easy: win out their conference, and have an automatic berth to one of the mega-payout bowl games (Fiesta, Oragne, Rose, Sugar) that start each new year. Even universities that field perennial also-rans stand to benefit, as conferences operate under a form of revenue sharing.

Everyone outside of those conferences has a higher hurdle to jump to get into these games, or at least get some of the cash. They could come up with their own bowl games, or take steps to make their game more appealing, or petition to join the big money conferences, or any number of other actions.

The preferred reaction, though, is to embrace a political/legal strategy. The Presidential Coalition for Athletic Reform (PCAR) wants Congress to get involved, on anti-trust grounds.

Writing in The Sporting News, football analyst Matt Hayes laments the prospect of "politicians suddenly roaming the sidelines" of the sport. He dismisses the idea that an extensive playoff system advocated by PCAR. Such a tournament works for college basketball because one star player can make a difference to even a tiny college such as Valparaiso, but the difference between the mighty and the weak is too great. As Hayes says, a game between Oklahoma (currently ranked as the best team in college football) and North Texas (whose first team would struggle to play with Oklahoma's second team) would have little interest--and interest, or viewer eyeballs--are what the BCS arrangement is about. Sorry, North Texas. Nothing personal. It's just business.

Hayes concludes: "The BCS conferences have the product, and they're selling it to the highest bidder. That's free enterprise, not a violation of antitrust law, which is defined as a group monopolizing trade or commerce through unreasonable methods. This is a waste of taxpayer money by a group of university presidents who are upset because the mean men at the BCS won't let them play with their ball."
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Tax Money Down the ...
The Cook County (Ill.) Forest Preserve District faces a $12 million budget gap, and has laid off workers as a result. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, however, the park district has a small inventory of deluxe outhouses that uses for one day a year--that day of a picnic held by Cook County Board President John Stroger. Stroger, one of three heavy hitters in Illinois politics (the other two are Chicago's mayor and the state's governor), says that he never knew how special the privies were. According to current and former employees, the outhouses were taken out of storage each year in anticipation of Stroger's picnic for friends and benefactors. Workers who did the setup work would move decrepit, wooden structures to another location on the grounds of the Green Lake Forest Preserve (for you non-Chicagoans, a "preserve" is a park).

Perhaps Stroger could take a lesson from the Milwaukee County Executive, who is considering privatization as a tool to handle his budget problems. That way, maybe the general public could get those stinky little houses that were at least as good as those used by government officials and their buddies.
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