Linkfest: Sunday Updates
Time to clean out the aggregator —
ITEM: House Ways and Means Chairman Charles “dedicated public servant” Rangel has refused to step down, even temporarily, from his powerful position despite being investigated for possible tax evasion and other misconduct. Most recent post here.
ITEM: Rangel’s co-conspirators in the House leadership, meanwhile, are using the (supposed) urgency of the various financial “bailout” proposals as an excuse to enact yet another election-season, vote-buying “stimulus package.” The cost this time: $50 billion. The fate of the bill given the soon-to-end Congressional calendar is unclear. Previous post here, see also here.
ITEM: Another anecdote about how Britain’s National Health Service rations the alleged “right to health care” by denying treatment to the elderly, in this case osteoporosis medication. Previous post here.
ITEM: Another anecdote about how publicly financed sports stadiums fail to meet overly optimistic projections regarding revenues, taxes, increased business, etc., in this case Washington’s Nationals Park. Flagship post here.
ITEM: A Florida state judge has ruled Riveria Beach’s widely-mocked “saggy pants” law unconstitutional. The criminal ordinance penalized attire that did not rise to the level of indecent exposure. Previous post here.
ITEM: Texas governor Rick Perry has ordered a temporary suspension of the state’s hotel tax for the pesky reason that, due to Hurricane Ike, the tax would fall primarily on Texans rather than people outside the state. I recently revisited the “tax the tourist” fallacy of hotel taxation. (Via Tax Policy Blog.)
ITEM: The United Nations has yet again expressed an interest in expanding the membership of the Security Council. The proposal, which under the best circumstances would take years to ratify and implement, would do nothing to deny illegitimate regimes such membership or to restrict the abuse by Russia and China of their absurd permanent veto power. Classic post here.
Filed under: Updates