A Stitch in Haste

Time to clean out the aggregator:

ITEM: Perhaps the single most universally acknowledged “dumb government idea” is the little checkbox on your tax form to authorize that $3 be added to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Few people check it, because few people are flaming idiots. So, unsurprisingly, some are now predicting that, for the first time, neither the Democratic nor the Republican candidate will accept the money (and the restrictions that come with it) for either primaries or the general election. By the way, guess who (a) voted against reforming the system, and (b) is universally expected not to accept public election funding (i.e., because he needs to spend more than the federal fund allows). That’s right: Senator John “Get the Money — and the First Amendment — Out of Politics” McCain. Sometimes you can just choke on the hypocrisy. (UPDATE: Great minds think alike — George Will comments on McCain’s hypocrisy.)

ITEM: I made a minor error in this post about the announcement of future government tenants for the Freedom Tower. I suggested that the Port Authority should either flat-out privatize the site or scale it back to a simple “Port Authority Headquarters Building.” Well, it turns out that even the Port Authority won’t move into its own building — only other government agencies are willing to rent space in the tower. Yet they had expected private tenants to rush to rent space over a tomb. Go figure.

ITEM: Another week, another draconian, oppressive and likely unconstitutional de facto exile program in the name of red-lining sex offenders. This time it’s California, and — surprise — a voter initiative (guess people ran out of ways to bash gays at the ballot box). The proposed minimum exclusion zone — the common “within 2,000 feet of a school or park” standard — would, some analyses suggest, render all of San Francisco and most of urban Los Angeles off-limits to sex offender registrants. San Francisco — the most liberal and “tolerant” city in the galaxy. Wow. (Via SL&P.)

ITEM: Another church is being investigated by the IRS for violating tax-exemption rules by politicking from the pulpit. Interestingly to some, but not to me, is the fact that this time it’s a “liberal” Episcopalian church (rather than the right-wing evangelicals most often associated with violations), and the sermon was anti-Bush (well, “anti-war”). Fine with me — sauce for the goose. So long as the rules, and the investigations, are applied even-handedly, then let the IRS proceed. Previous posts on the subject here.

ITEM: Remember Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Frank “Pull Over a School Bus and Hug the Kids” Melton? I blogged about him here. Well, he’s back in the news, this time for illegally “leading a group of teenagers with sledgehammers in smashing up a house that he claimed was a drug den.” Coaxing cabals of kids into doing violence, with weapons, over drugs — isn’t that the definition of a “gang leader”? Go figure. (Via Hit & Run.)

ITEM: I once blogged about a lawsuit over whether a school should be allowed to “censor” the school newspaper when the school itself owns the equipment and funds the endeavor (I say “yes, of course”). So does Texas Tech University — although not in as intelligent a way as I would like to see: the student government (not the administration) is considering forcing the student newspaper to discontinue a daily “Death Toll” of American losses in Iraq. Either that, or “change the title to something more graceful, like ‘Those who have sacrificed their lives. … ‘They can include an American flag by it or a yellow ribbon.’” Ah, yes, student government — central planners in training. (Via Fark.)

ITEM: For those wondering about the California government’s lawsuit against six major auto manufacturers over global warming, I have nothing new to say that I didn’t already say in this post when eight states (and New York City) tried the same stunt, but against utility companies. On second thought, I do have something new to say, as I noticed on another blog: Since the State of California has perhaps millions of government vehicles that have arguably contributed to global warming for years, shouldn’t the State be barred from suing due to the doctrine of unclean hands?

ITEM: Europe versus Microsoft — yet again. Remember always: antitrust persecutions prosecutions protect, not competition, but competitors. Especially those that are well-connected with the government.

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