Posts Tagged With: Politics

Bless Them

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Republicans, traditionally known for being smarter about the economy than Democrats (and less literate about social issues), battled in an economic debate in Michigan, and some of the quotes that came out were really funny. Lenders would love a John McCain presidency, especially if he keeps talking like this:
"I'm glad whenever they cut interest rates, I wish interest rates were zero."
More from Free Exchange, via Matt Yglesias.

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Immigration Is Good for the United States

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Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. My economic success may depend on it, as some towns that passed anti-illegal immigration laws are now realizing. These towns banned illegal immigrants, yet are having second thoughts, because their economies are now suffering. This article isn't really rigorous but the point of view fits within my worldview, so I'm sharing.

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Money & the 2008 Election

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NY Times has an interesting, if improbable, look at how Michael Bloomberg could focus all of his energy at one or two large states, and use these as bargaining chips if neither the Democrats or Republicans manage to get a majority in the Electoral College. Of course, if one of them does manage to get a majority, or if Mr Bloomberg doesn't decide to run for president, this whole strategy is for naught. I think a better strategy would be to offer every Electoral College voter 2 million dollars to vote for Bloomberg instead of their candidate. To get a majority, Bloomberg would need 270 voters to change their vote, for a total cost of $540 million, comparable to the cost of an election campaign. Of course, this could fail too. All this strategizing says to me that the Electoral College is an idea that has long outlived its usefulness. Every election year, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Missouri get twice as much attention as California, a state with the world's 7th largest economy and one sixth of the country's population. There is no Electoral College equivalent at any other level of government in the US; it would be silly if governor's races were decided by how many counties a candidate won. It's about time we switched to popular voting for the president, like every other industrialized country.

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Want to know more about gerrymandering?

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Play the Redistricting Game. Some smart alecks at USC put this game together. You are the state's mapmaker, and your party controls the state Legislature. You have to guarantee narrow partisan margins for all the districts in the state (and keep them all the same size), while getting approval from the Governor and surviving court challenges. The main point of the game is to show how much of an influence the mapmaker has in deciding elections. I suggest you try your hand.

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Huh?

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According to a new Zogby poll, 45% of Americans fear high levels of corruption if Hillary Clinton returns to office. What? I'm sorry, maybe I didn't hear correctly? As opposed to the low levels of corruption we are enjoying now? The tripling of paid lobbyists on K Street? The ethics 'reform' that means politicians are still enjoying lunches and paid vacations from those lobbyists? A representative soliciting a teen page for sex? No-bid contracts offered to the vice president's old company? Leaking the name of a CIA operative to exact revenge on her truth-telling husband? Congressional votes in exchange for pork/lobby money? Who is being kidded? Bill Clinton's presidency was a little before my time. But getting blown by a White House intern does not hurt the country, or its finances, or take money from its tax payers. I cannot believe the Clintons had scandals to match these. I mean maybe there will be corruption under Hillary Clinton but can it possibly top the amount now? Will there be less corruption under McCain or Obama or Edwards?

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Pigou Club, Mobility & Unemployment

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There has been a lot of talk recently about the idea that unemployment is correlated with home ownership. The idea behind the theory (as I understand it) is that people are unwilling to change homes, and so are not mobile enough to take full advantage of their workplace opportunities. Given this, would a carbon tax also lend itself to higher unemployment? If I am willing to drive to any job within three gallons of my home at the current gasoline price, but only one and a half gallons when gas is $4.50 a gallon... Cars, for all the pain they cause, are a very easy way to get around; taxing gasoline would most likely lead to a decrease in mobility. Comments are open... :-)

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Capping the 2008 Presidential Election

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I'm selling Rudy Giuliani. No way he stays the frontrunner for Republicans through the whole election. As a matter of fact, I'm selling everyone this week but Dennis Kucinich, who deserves points for having absolutely no chance and sticking around anyway. It's March 2007; the election is November 2008. I am a freshman now and will be a junior by the time the election takes place. In the meantime I expect lots of gaffes, empty promises, and soul-selling. The winner will be battered to pieces by the end of this process. As we scrutinize our candidates more closely than we ever have, we will realize that they are not likeable. Or perfect. I will put early bets on Barack Obama mainly because he is the best looking candidate in the field. Mitt Romney would be close except that he's a Mormon. In Massachusetts this can be overlooked but not in the country. Especially as he comes under national scrutiny. I wish we could divide up the presidential position into two positions: an economic leader and a social leader. That way voters could combine fiscal conservativism with social progressivism. I only have one vote to say yes or no to all of a candidate's views. I especially dislike the idea of voting for America's leader based on how he feels about abortion. Abortion and gay marriage are important issues but I don't know how suited they are for address by the President.

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