TAR, FEATHERS: Court: State Can Dump Non-Sex Offenders Into Registry. “Georgia’s Supreme Court is upholding the government’s right to put non-sex offenders on the state’s sex-offender registry, highlighting a little-noticed (but growing) nationwide practice.”
Well, hell, if you can pass a bill without a vote, I guess you can be a “sex offender” without sex. I wonder if this will be used against shopping malls who falsely imprison teens charged with shoplifting . . . .
WHY DID WE HAVE A FINANCIAL CRISIS? Because regulators didn’t believe in efficient markets. “If regulators had been true believers in efficiency, they would have been considerably more skeptical about some of the consistently high returns being reported by various financial institutions. If the capital market is fiercely competitive, there is a good chance that high returns are attributable to high leverage, high risk, inside information, or dishonest accounting. True believers in efficiency would have looked more closely at the leverage and risk-taking positions of Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and banks and investment banks generally. They might have questioned the source of the trading profits of hedge funds like Galleon, and discovered some using inside information. And they would have been exceptionally skeptical of the surreally high and stable returns reported over an extended period by Bernie Madoff.”
CAN’T GET YOUR CONGRESSFOLKS ON THE PHONE? Pete Hoekstra says to call state legislatures. Hey, reapportionment is coming up . . . .
JOHN HINDERAKER: We’re Gonna Win, Twins! “Baseball fans here are giddy with excitement.”
CBO SCORE PRELIMINARY, final numbers not available until Saturday or Sunday — perhaps after the vote? Plus this: “If it kicked in right away, the decade-long estimate would obviously be well into the trillions. So they simply stalled it for four years, incurring just $17 billion in costs — or 1.8 percent of the total 10-year estimate — through 2013 so that wavering Democrats could go back to their districts and tell baldfaced lies to their constituents about the pricetag. A perfect ending to this travesty.”
IN THE MAIL: From Jack Cashill, Popes and Bankers: A Cultural History of Credit and Debt, from Aristotle to AIG.
IF YOU MISSED IT LAST NIGHT, check out part 2 of my interview with Scott Rasmussen: Citizen Surge: Rasmussen On Tea Party Politics & The Return Of Self-Governance.
CHARLIE GASPARINO: America’s Debt Gets Scary.
PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE ON OBAMACARE:
In other words, my premiums will go down because healthy young people who currently get by without insurance will be forced to buy policies they may not even want. (When I was young and healthy, I got by quite happily with a bare bones Blue Cross policy that only covered catastrophic expenses). It’s a wealth transfer from the young and uninsured to the old and insured.
But, as an insured old fart, who am I to complain?
And the younger voters supported Obama, so you don’t even have to feel guilty.
OBAMA TO DEMS: Save my presidency, vote for ObamaCare. Plus this: “White House officials said Obama’s recent remarks aren’t intended to personalize the debate or rally undecided Democratic members with an egocentric, ‘win one for Barry’ message.” Well, that’s good to know.
A REVIEW OF She’s Out Of My League.
JENNIFER RUBIN NOTES THAT David Brooks is figuring out who the rubes were. There’s a lot of that going on. . . .
VALUES UNDER PRESSURE: Brandi Milloy talks to Andrew Klavan.
CUBA’S unknown dissidents.
ADVICE TO LITIGATORS: Calm down.
ROGER SIMON: Obama On Fox: It’s Desperation Time. “There’s no way Barack Obama would have appeared on Fox Wednesday night in a sit-down interview with Bret Baer had not the President’s health care bill been in serious trouble.”
UH OH: Moody’s Fears Social Unrest As AAA States Implement Austerity Plans. “The US rating agency said the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain are walking a tightrope as they try to bring public finances under control without nipping recovery in the bud. It warned of ‘substantial execution risk’ in withdrawal of stimulus.” Bah. With the team of geniuses we’ve got running things, what could go wrong?
CORRESPONDENCE WITH Steven Vincent’s widow.
SPAGHETTI WITH CANTELOUPE: Yes, you read that correctly.
JONATHAN ADLER: Would “Deem & Pass” Survive Judicial Review?
WHO NEEDS ADT OR BROADVIEW? Homeowner Kills Attempted Robber In Driveway Shootout.
BARACK OBAMA TO ANN ALTHOUSE: “Ann — I wanted to take a moment to thank you directly for the outstanding work you’ve been doing for health reform.”
RATINGS: Cartoon Network beats CNN, MSNBC. It has more believable characters.
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