MARKDOWNS ON guitars.

WELL, THE ONLY WATER CRISIS HERE IS THAT IT WON’T STOP RAINING: How California’s New Water Laws Inform the Coming National Crisis.

NEW STRATEGY: Every Road A Toll Road. “Despite the privacy issues, DC officials insist that tolling is necessary for making up for the shortfall in gasoline tax revenues. The proposed mileage tax would solve this problem by increasing motorist taxation levels by a factor of ten. The additional revenue would be diverted to spending on buses and rail service. . . . ‘Vehicles would be fitted with a GPS transponder device similar to an E-ZPass, perhaps as part of the registration process,’ Orr and Rivlin explained. ‘This device would record the type of vehicle, the distance traveled, and the time and location of travel.'”

So they tell you to drive less. You comply. Then it’s a “revenue crisis” because they’re bringing in less in gas taxes. So they respond by raising taxes, and making you install a device that lets them track wherever you drive. Yeah, that’ll fly. How about, I don’t know, tar and feathers instead?

UPDATE: A reader emails: “The more incompetent they become, the more power they demand.” Indeed.

KEITH HENNESSEY: Five Important Upcoming Senate Health Care Votes.

MARKETS IN EVERYTHING: MEGAN MCARDLE: “I’m a big fan of the Institute for Justice, which fights the good fight on issues like economic liberty and eminent domain. Today they’re launching what may be their biggest case ever: a fight to allow compensation for bone marrow donors. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act forbids people to sell their bone marrow, as well as their kidneys, lungs, and so forth. By which I don’t mean that the ban is merely stupid; I mean there’s apparently some reason to believe that Congress simply did this as a mistake, adding bone marrow into the bill at the last moment without really thinking things through.”

Shocking, that. Related: An interview with Virginia Postrel.

SHOCKING NEWS FROM SCIENCE: The Key to a Happy Marriage? A Younger, Smarter Wife (and Sex).

LARRY KUDLOW responds to Barney Frank.

I STILL PREFER PAPER BALLOTS: In Industry First, Voting Machine Company to Publish Source Code.

A MUSCLE-BOUND computer interface. “A band of electrodes attach to a person’s forearm and read electrical activity from different arm muscles. These signals are then correlated to specific hand gestures, such as touching a finger and thumb together, or gripping an object tighter than normal. The researchers envision using the technology to change songs in an MP3 player while running or to play a game like Guitar Hero without the usual plastic controller.”

JUICY ACORN NUGGETS.

GOOD ADVICE FROM FRED SMITH: GOP Should Grow the Party, Grow the Economy, Shrink the State.

GUILTY: Lemaricus Davidson jury verdicts in Christian / Newsom killings.

WHO NEEDS DONUTS? Er, everybody?

REAL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: PJTV Salutes Mr. Really In Your Face Earmarker.

MAN OF THE PEOPLE: “New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D) has personally furnished $22.6 million of the total of $24.1 existing in his re-election campaign’s coffers — more than 90% of the total — according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.”

HMM: For first time under Obama, majority says US is on wrong track.

Related: Gloom spreads on economy, but GOP doesn’t gain.

POLITICO: Obama Already Defending His Legacy: “President Barack Obama has been in office just nine months and already he is defending his legacy, pushing back more aggressively against criticism of his record on health care, climate change, closing Guantanamo, reforming immigration laws and financial regulations and managing the war in Afghanistan.” This isn’t a good sign.

Plus this: “Democratic strategist Chris Lehane likened Obama’s recent speeches to testing out a new message with a ‘series of rolling focus groups.’” Because that’s how you build a good legacy. With focus groups.

WHAT’S WRONG with journalism school?

SEVEN QUESTIONS THAT keep physicists up at night.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: All Falling Down. “Integral to public debt are two eternal truths: a public demands of the state ever more subsidies, and those who pay for them shrink in number as they seek to avoid the increased burden. . . . Why the pessimism? I think there are a few truths that transcend politics and remain eternal.”

A PICTURE OF THE production Aptera 2e. I’d like one.

THE ANCHORESS: Would Larry David Piss On An Image Of Obama? Of course not. That would be sacrilege.

HEALTH CARE BILL WILL BE WRITTEN ON C-SPAN: A pledge from President Obama. Er, I mean, candidate Obama. Guess it’s past the expiration date now . . . .

WELL, IT’S AN INFLATION HEDGE: Buy food – price rises are almost guaranteed.

ROUNDING UP WAR NEWS AT The Mudville Gazette.