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Friday, January 29, 2016

Miscellany: 1/29/16

Quote of the Day
Rest when you're weary. 
Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. 
Then get back to work.
Ralph Marston

 Tweet of the Day
Chart of the Day

Image of the Day


Unconstitutional Restrictions on School Choice

We see a similar situation in Catholic schools where, for instance, benefactors help subsidize the tuition costs of multi-student modest income households. My maternal uncle was the pastor of parishes with schools and made it clear that schools were not a profit-making venture but more of a drain on parish finances. The restriction in Montana is blatantly unconstitutional; we are not even talking taxpayer funds; this is a scholarship fund for which donations are exempt. SCOTUS has generally ruled if it does not enter the government treasury, it does not constitute public disbursement.

I would go even further: if any organization teaches to core educational objectives, I don't care if they have a religion, yoga, or whatever class on the side. If a school lunch serves kosher hot dogs, I don't see it as a backdoor into Judaism; all I want to know is if the hot dog is nutritious.







Facebook Corner

(Libertarian Catholic). The American criminal justice system IS criminal. Senator Rand Paul talks about how to fix it in this short clip from last night. ‪#‎crime‬ ‪#‎reform‬ h/t The Socratic Catholic
There was a recent salient discussion on a Cato Institute podcast, looking at the unconsionable fact that we have just under 5% of the world's population, but nearly a quarter of the imprisoned--and a lot of it has to do with "get tough" policies like long/minimum sentences, three strike rules, etc. Let's also point out on the War on Drugs, the imprisoned really aren't the consumers, but the suppliers.

 However, the point is whenever there is a market, whether we are talking alcohol, drugs, or even migrant labor, de facto prohibitions generally result in black markets, with artificial shortages attracting criminal operations with the lure of high profits--and criminal activity to protect lucrative territories and to feed addictive behaviors.

(John Stossel). See Image of the Day
With all due respect to Stossel, roughly a third of libertarians (including myself) are pro-life; we see the right to life in all stages of development as fundamental and a proper function of the government to protect negative rights.

 I believe Ben Carson recently flipped on minimum wage, noting its disparate effects on younger and/or minority workers.

 I also think Ben Carson and Rand Paul have a more nuanced opposition to trade pacts like TPP, mostly from what they see as expansion of Presidential authority at the expense of Congress (and neither ruled out supporting the finalized treaty). They and others also might argue that TPP, like all trade pacts, really isn't free trade but managed trade. (I myself am for declaring unilateral free trade, but see TPP as a win-win pragmatic first step in opening markets. I also think without FTA, protectionists would kill treaties with poison pill amendments.)

Slaying Economic Illiteracy Against Free Trade



With a Little Help From My Friends

I saw a link to this story while on a sports website. It's a couple of years old but new to me.



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chip Bok via Reason
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Juice Newton, "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)"



A Big Rand Paul Moment From Debate 7



Some say this was Rand Paul's finest moment from last night's GOP debate:
Posted by National Review on Friday, January 29, 2016
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