CLOWN SHOW: “Michael Steele has once again mobilized the GOP base . . . against Michael Steele.”

WHAT A WELFARE STATE LOOKS LIKE: Only in Illinois: where teachers and union members rallied to raise more taxes yesterday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Millions face tax increases under Dems budget plan.

FIRST THEY CAME for Hitler . . . .

HOW TO make an iPad stand from its own packaging.

MICKEY KAUS: Why is Texas doing so much better than California? “Dan Gross outlines some reasons: the energy industry is relatively recession proof, plus Texas is so big it can create its own ‘green’ wind power jobs to power its cities without having to cooperate with neighboring states. … Gross leaves off another potential factor, though: Texas has a relatively low rate of unionization–about a third of California’s. That means a) fewer rigidities in the labor market, allowing it to adjust to the market more quickly–tiny quick wage cuts for a lot of people, for eample, mean employers don’t have to lay people off as quickly b) fewer rigidities in organization structure–they don’t have UAW-style work rules at Dell; and c) the absence of the public sector union ‘death-grip on state and local government’ and politics and finances, which has helped produce near-bankruptcy at the state level (and actual bankruptcy in Vallejo).”

NEW JERSEY UPDATE: Christie Targets Public-Employee Unions.

NYC AVIATION: Obama and Biden to Celebrate Earth Day by Tying Up New York Air Traffic.

On a day when many Americans will be reflecting upon how they can reduce their impact on the environment, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will board separate jets in Washington on Earth Day morning to fly 250 miles up the east coast to New York, where they will land at separate airports to attend separate events within a few miles of each other.

The parallel visits of Air Force One (a 747/VC-25 aircraft) and Air Force Two (a 757/C-32A aircraft) will delay dozens, if not hundreds of commercial flights at Kennedy and LaGuardia and other nearby airports as no-fly zones are implemented. Jets will be forced to circle and burn more fuel as they wait for the VIPs to come and go. Their security contingents consisting of dozens of cars, SUVs and helicopters will burn even more. Throw in thousands of commuters’ cars and delivery trucks sitting idle in traffic as law enforcement closes large swaths of the city and you have yourself a very Earth-unfriendly day. . . .

Thursday’s dual jaunt seems especially egregious considering the frivolous nature of Biden’s visit, in particular: He’ll be yukking it up with Whoopi and Barbara as a guest on The View. Not sure what he’ll be talking about, but you can be certain that whatever he has to say could be done just as effectively using a video camera and satellite hookup from the White House.

Carbon-footprint worries, like taxes, are for the little people.

UPDATE: Reader Tom Parker writes: “Not to mention delaying thousands of passengers trying to get home from the volcano delays.” More unintended consequences.

And reader David Winslow writes: “If they’re both needing to go (certainly a questionable proposition) we should consider the additional pollution emitted by separate aircraft as more than worth the risk, considering the fear that the words ‘President Pelosi’ should inspire in us all.” True, but does Biden really need to go anywhere?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader T.C. Lynch writes: “Whatever happened to ‘Amtrak Joe’? Acela don’t cut it on a VP’s salary?”

TAXES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE (CONT’D): Tax Court: IRS Agent Liable for Taxes (and Penalties) on Unreported Income From Thousands of eBay Sales. Of course, she didn’t get off scot-free like Tim Geithner.

ANN ALTHOUSE: The iPad is kind of like Twitter. “I have it, and I feel like I could be using it. But I don’t really use it. Maybe I think I’m going to be using it. But I also think it’s possible that I’m never going to use it. I seem to have a need for it, but I have other things that fit that need that I go back to instead over and over again. And yet there it is, over there. I think I’m going to be going there, maybe later. Maybe tomorrow.”

NAVY SEAL CLEARED in Iraq abuse case.

BOB OWENS: Astroturf: On Heels of Failed ‘Coffee Party,’ It’s ‘The Other 95%’. How many tries is that? There was “A New Way Forward,” with its flopped bank protests, there was the “brown-bagger” movement, then the Coffee Party, and now this. Have I missed any?

CAR LUST: Great Cars of Song: Shut Down.

INSTAVISION: Growing A Grassroots Powerhouse: How the Cincinnati Tea Party Did It. As you can see, I had backup from the PorkBusters pig. . . . (Bumped.)

PJTV: When Seconds Count, the Police Are Only Minutes Away. Kind of a change from those Brinks/Broadview Security commercials . . . .

CAIR LOSES A BATTLE in Miami. More here and here.

VOLCANO ASH CLOUD SETS OFF GLOBAL DOMINO EFFECT:

While the volcanic ash cloud covering parts of Europe continues to wreak havoc for airlines – costing the industry more than $1 billion as of Monday – grounding most of the continent’s air travel for several days has had a ripple effect extending far beyond Europe’s borders.

The following is a collection of international anecdotes demonstrating how the ash cloud has done more than hit airlines’ bottom lines and inconvenienced air travelers.

• The lack of refrigeration facilities at the airport in capital of the West African nation of Ghana has been a big blow to pineapple and pawpaw farmers who sell to Europe because of the lack of flights. As of Tuesday, no cargo flights have taken off yet. . . .

• In Kenya, thousands of day laborers are out of work because produce and flowers can’t be exported amid the flight cancellations. Kenya has thrown away 10 million flowers – mostly roses – since the volcano eruption. Asparagus, broccoli and green beans meant for European dinner tables are being fed to Kenyan cattle because storage facilities are filled to capacity.

• The U.S. Travel Association estimates that the ash cloud produced by the eruption has cost the U.S. economy $650 million, approximately $130 million per day. That kind of loss to the economy affects the cashflow to fund about 6,000 American jobs, the association said. Every international flight bound for the U.S. is worth an average of $450,000 in spending from travelers, which the association says pays for five jobs per flight.

• Nissan Motor Co.’s production at a line at its Oppama plant near Tokyo and two lines at its Kyushu factory in southern Japan will stop all day Wednesday because the planned shipment of tire pressure sensors from Ireland has not arrived, company spokeswoman Sachi Inagaki said. The suspension would affect nearly 2,000 vehicles, including the Cube compact made at the Oppama plant, and the Murano and Rogue crossover SUV models produced at the Kyushu plant as well as eight other models that are produced on the same production lines, Inagaki said.

• BMW North America spokeswoman Jan Ehlen told the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg on Monday that the automaker will likely reduce production at the BMW plant in South Carolina because of a shortage of supplies, but shouldn’t have to shut the plant down. BMW uses planes to ship transmissions and other components from its German factories to South Carolina. The Greer plant makes BMW’s X5 and X6 sport utility vehicles.

There’s more at the link but this kind of thing underscores how tightly-coupled the global economy has become. That goes with the point about “resilience” made at the end of this piece in the WSJ and in this piece, and this one, from Popular Mechanics. Bottom line is that failures in one part of the global economy can cascade throughout. Too much of our technological and economic infrastructure is designed with good times in mind, and not enough thought goes into how it will function when things are rotten. Yet, frequently, changes needed to add more resilience to the system are fairly modest, if they’re made in advance. Just a thought. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Stephen Skaggs writes: “This shows not only tightly-coupled the global economy has become, but illustrates the impossibilities of centrally planned economies.” Well, yes, we’re back to the old Knowledge Problem again . . . .

THE CONSTRUCTIVE Chris Christie.

PRECEDENT: In White House meeting, ‘Only two of the elected officials in the room had never filibustered a Supreme Court nominee’.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE: Don’t Listen To The President!

IN CHINA, a property bubble?

RINGO STARR: “Everything government touches turns to crap.”

UPDATE: Related: The Crony Capitalist Threat To Economic Freedom.

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE on the timing of the SEC’s Goldman suit.

JOHN GALT relocates to Macau.

UPDATE: Heh: “Wait a minute. Aren’t wealthy guys like Wynn the people Obama promised to tax to pay for education, health care, government, and all his other giveaways? Wow. I guess he never saw this coming.”

STOCK-UP TIME? Markdowns on Duracell batteries.