March 10Rasmussen Report

Just 23% of voters say they prefer a more active government with more services and higher taxes over one with fewer services and lower taxes. This finding has remained fairly consistent since regular tracking on this question began in November 2006.

From Politico: “Conservatives target their own fringe”

Erickson has advised new tea party organizers on how to avoid affiliations with extremists, and this month banned birthers – conservatives who believe that Obama was not born in the United States and is, therefore, ineligible to be President – from his blog (he has long blacklisted truthers, those who believe that the U.S. government was complicit in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks – a conspiracy theory with devotees across the political spectrum).

“At some point, you have to use the word ‘crazy,’” said Erickson.

Hat Tip: Bruce Bartlett

I just found (thanks to snooping around some emails) the text of the Julian L. Simon Memoral Lecture I gave in 2009 in New Delhi on “Democracy and Limited Government: The Unbreakable Partnership.” For those who are interested, some years earlier I wrote essays on “Challenges of Democratization,” “The Role of Institutions and Law in Economic Development,” and other essays on the central role of institutions in the development and enjoyment of liberty that are included in Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.

The Colombian Constitutional Court has put a stop to the principle of “President for Life” (BBC: “Colombian judges deny Alvaro Uribe third term poll“)

A Power Failure for Chavez (BBC: “Lights failure throws Chavez into darkness“)

I discussed the topic of sustainable democracy in the 2009 Julian L. Simon Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, “Democracy and Limited Government: The Unbreakable Partnership”

Jonathan Rauch’s insightful take on contemporary GOP politics in the National Journal: “It’s George Wallace’s GOP Now”

LIKE WALLACE AND HIS SUPPORTERS 40 YEARS AGO, TODAY’S CONSERVATIVE POPULISTS ARE LONG ON ANGER AND SHORT ON COHERENCE.

I just stumbled upon Gary Johnson’s website, via his Facebook page. The updates are pretty good.

From Ed Kilgore of The New Republic: “It’s You, Not Me:
Liberals and libertarians finally break up.”

An interesting question is, “Does loudly professing concern for the poor translate into actually benefiting them?” (It’s a topic I address in a paper forthcoming in a volume from Cambridge University Press edited by Peter Hoffenberg and William Galston.)

Hat Tip to Michael Cannon

Biden Criticized For Appearing In Hennessy Ads

Jonathan Chait disgraces himself once more. First he mocked Veronique de Rugy’s French name, then in his defense he makes fun of the “G” in my name, which I have there to remember my father and to distinguish myself from a lot of others out there with the same name. But whatever.

What’s actually interesting is that he thinks that it’s très amusant to write “Hey, you know what else is anti-American? Being named ‘Veronique de Rugy’” as a so, so witty response to Vero’s criticism of Barney Frank’s “mentality,” because it is allegedly wrong to state that a mentality is unAmerican, but he was very quick to tar advocates of tax cuts as “deeply unpatriotic” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He wrote in The New Republic (not available online, as far as I could find), “There is something deeply unpatriotic about K Street’s rush to turn the tragedy into quick profit.” (Note the additional smear: “K Street,” which is in fact dominated by lawyers and lobbyists trying to get a piece of the taxpayers’ dollar, is used as the stand-in for taxpayers who would like to keep more of their money.) But what is the most interesting is how eager he was to smear people who favor tax cuts as “unpatriotic,” which is far stronger than referring to a “mentality” as unAmerican (or, in Vero’s awkward Frenchy phrase, “anti-American”). What can one say?….other than that his friends really ought to stop him before he embarrasses himself again.

UPDATE: Now We Know What Real Humor Is….Or at Least Real Jokes

(Now, it seems that the full version is here.)

David Boaz on NPR.org: “For This Libertarian, Obama’s First Year Looks Grim“

CNN: “Brown wins Massachusetts Senate race”

“A Case for Divided Government”

“Dividing Power”

“Would Divided Government Be Better?”

“Three Cheers for Divided Government”

“We miss you, Bubba”

From America’s Most Reliable News Source: “Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be“

From Foreign Policy: “The Islamists Are Not Coming: Religious parties in the Muslim world are hardly the juggernauts they’ve been made out to be,” by Charles Kurzman and Ijlal Naqvi.

David Boaz waxes nostalgic in the Washington Times for the days when government was almost, sorta, kinda limited, compared to now: “We Miss You, Bubba“

The discussion with Tyler Cowen reminded me again that we had disagreed (agreeably) on a number of things in an online discussion of Libertarianism: Past and Prospects, which was kicked off by Brian Doherty, author of the really fine book Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.

David Boaz in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer: “When government slippery slope goes vertical“

Russell Roberts on NPR: “As Goldman Gloats, What Does It Matter For Us?”

Russell is too much of a gentleman to point out the large number of Goldman cronies who moved into state offices in Washington during the Bush and Obama (or “Bobama”) administrations. Henry Paulson, meet Ferdinand Marcos.