The Volokh Conspiracy - -

The Volokh Conspiracy - -: "Where would the arguments in the New York Times editorial leave the New York Times itself? Shouldn't New York Times v. Sullivan (the landmark libel case) and New York Times v. United States (the Pentagon Papers case), for instance, have come out the opposite way under the Times' analysis? The corporation that owns the Times, like all corporations, has "limited liability, special rules for the accumulation of assets and the ability to live forever [in theory]." It is "in a privileged position in producing profits and aggregating wealth." It surely has tremendous "influence." It tries to participate in "politics," in its editorials and also, inevitably (whether intentionally or not) in its news coverage and choices of what to cover. It is a "legally created economic entit[y].""

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The Volokh Conspiracy - Constitutional Rights and Corporations:

The Volokh Conspiracy - Constitutional Rights and Corporations:: "Now some people might think this is the right result. Or perhaps if this happened, people would stop using the corporate form — newspapers, advocacy groups, and churches would somehow reorganize themselves as, say, partnerships or sole proprietorships. This might actually be hard, and from the perspective of people who disapprove of corporate rights, it might be counterproductive; what's the point of letting the Times have constitutional rights if it's run as a partnership but not if it's run as a corporation? But for now, my point is simply that we should clearly identify the consequences of denying constitutional rights to corporations — and those consequences hardly seem sensible."

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APNewsBreak: Obama administration plan would kill rival bird to save spotted owl - The Washington Post

APNewsBreak: Obama administration plan would kill rival bird to save spotted owl - The Washington Post: "WASHINGTON — To save the imperiled spotted owl, the Obama administration is moving forward with a controversial plan to shoot barred owls, a rival bird that has shoved its smaller cousin aside.

The plan is the latest federal attempt to protect the northern spotted owl, the passive one-pound bird that sparked an epic battle over logging in the Pacific Northwest two decades ago."

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TODAY on the Trail - Caption contest: Mitt Romney has a close encounter with the Santorum car

TODAY on the Trail - Caption contest: Mitt Romney has a close encounter with the Santorum car: "Romney admitted to not following car racing very closely but saying he has "friends who are NASCAR team owners." "

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Inept NYT Op-Ed Defending HHS Mandate—Part 1 - By Ed Whelan - Bench Memos - National Review Online

Inept NYT Op-Ed Defending HHS Mandate—Part 1 - By Ed Whelan - Bench Memos - National Review Online: "3. Samuels also makes a superficial argument that the HHS mandate doesn’t violate the Free Exercise Clause, as interpreted in Employment Division v. Smith. (In fairness to Samuels, I will note that many of the assertions that the HHS mandate does violate the Free Exercise Clause are equally superficial and fail to take account of Smith.)

What Samuels fails to recognize is that the exclusion of a broad swath of employers from the mandate for secular reasons—e.g., the employers who have so-called “grandfathered plans” and small employers (see points developed here, in the context of RFRA’s “compelling interest” standard)—means that the mandate isn’t neutral and generally applicable. (As the Sixth Circuit recently explained, a law is not neutral and generally applicable if it “permit[s] secular exemptions but not religious ones.” See also the Third Circuit opinion by then-Judge Alito that I discuss here.) The mandate is therefore subject to the same test under the Free Exercise Clause that it faces under RFRA, and it flunks that test for the same reasons."

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The argument that the mandate to provide contraceptives is unconstitutional makes a lot more sense to me now.

'Right Wing Lice' - WSJ.com

'Right Wing Lice' - WSJ.com: " "Let me just tell you this Mitt 'Muddle Mouth': I'm a single parent and my kids are *amazing*! Stick that in your magic underwear. #CNNdebate""

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2012 Michigan Republican Primary - Rasmussen Reports™

2012 Michigan Republican Primary - Rasmussen Reports™: "rue to a primary season already marked by sudden and surprising ups and downs, Mitt Romney has jumped back into the lead in Michigan’s Republican Primary race. The vote’s on Tuesday.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters in Michigan shows Romney with 40% of the vote and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum with 34%. The poll was conducted on Thursday night, following the last scheduled debate among the GOP candidates."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "If Specter’s father hadn’t emigrated from Russia after the Revolution, he would never have met Specter’s mother, and the cause of our woes would never have been born! A butterfly flaps its wings on the Steppes and nine decades later Harry Reid is federally subsidizing cowboy poetry festivals. Coincidence?"

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Open Letter to Bill O’Reilly

Open Letter to Bill O’Reilly: "You’re all lathered up because U.S. oil companies are exporting much of their refined gasoline and heating oil to other countries and thereby putting upward pressure on fuel prices here in America. You conclude that these companies have a moral obligation not to export so much."

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I bet there are a lot of people that feel this way, and ironically, most of them are probably the same people that are concerned about our trade deficit. So, it's both bad that we import too many goods, and also bad that we export too much oil. We can't win!

CNN.com - Transcripts

CNN.com - Transcripts: "That's good enough. As George Costanza would say, when they're applauding, stop. Right?"

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That line--that' I 'm sure is designed to help him connect with average joes-- seems pretty canned to me.

Ann Coulter - February 22, 2012 - WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM WITH ROMNEY?

Ann Coulter - February 22, 2012 - WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM WITH ROMNEY?: "You'll recall that Perry was the dream candidate until we saw him talk. "

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Greg Mankiw's Blog: Good Academic, Bad Human Being

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Good Academic, Bad Human Being: "But don't stop there. If you have this objective, then it is best not to have hobbies, or read novels, or go to the movies. Don't spend time teaching well or mentoring students, except the very best students who can help you with your research. Don't get married or have friends, unless your spouse and friends are PhD economists and can coauthor papers with you. Whatever you do, don't have children--boy, are they a time sink! And if you make the mistake of having children, make sure you spend as little time with them as you can.

In other words, if you want to be the best academic you can be, get ready to be a miserable human being. "

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JustOneMinute: When Is A Tie Not A Tie?

JustOneMinute: When Is A Tie Not A Tie?: "And for a real tiebreak, maybe we can look at both 2009 and 2010. The Romneys move up to 16% for the two years. And the Obamas? Ooops - GI was up a lot at $5.623 million, charitable giving was up a little at $329,100, and their donation rate was 5.9%. Totaling over the two years, the Obamas averaged 7.7%."

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JustOneMinute: When Is A Tie Not A Tie?

JustOneMinute: When Is A Tie Not A Tie?: "President Obama and his wife, Michelle, despite having the second-lowest income of the four candidate/spouse combos, gave the highest percentage of their $1.8 million income to charity in 2010, at 13.6 percent.
The wealthiest couple, Mitt Romney and wife Ann, finished slightly ahead, giving 13.8 percent to charity — most of it to the Mormon church. Of course, Romney also made far more than anyone else in 2010, at more than $21 million.

I know what you are thinking, even if you are a WaPo reporter - 13.8% is more than 13.6%. But we can move Obama to the front with a simple adjustment!"

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Greg Mankiw's Blog: Semantics at the Highest Level

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Semantics at the Highest Level: "Consider these two policies:

A. An employer is required to provide its employees health insurance that covers birth control.

B. An employer is required to provide its employees health insurance. The health insurance company is required to cover birth control."

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