NINE WAYS TO CUT YOUR HOME HEATING BILLS.

WHY PEOPLE LOVE granite countertops.

MILESTONE: The Very Last World War I Veteran Has Died.

GO AHEAD: Make My Halftime.

Link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

HEH: Menino and Bloomberg: The Lost First Take.

NINTH CIRCUIT holds Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

ENRON-QUALITY ACCOUNTING WITHOUT THE ACCOUNTABILITY: Independent auditor finds $10 billion in HHS discrepancies.

More here: “Two lawmakers have asked the Health and Human Services Department to explain financial management problems flagged in a recent audit, including violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which bars agencies from obligating funds without a congressional authorization or appropriation.”

HYBRID UPDATE: January U.S. alt-fuel vehicle sales: Prius leaves other hybrids in the dust.

Toyota, whose Prius generally accounts for about half of the hybrids sold in the U.S., sold 11,555 units of the model, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier after sales fell 3.2 percent for all of 2011. Meanwhile, Toyota, which didn’t disclose figures for any other individual hybrid models, boosted sales of its non-Prius hybrids by 54 percent from a year earlier to 3,087 vehicles, indicating that buyers appear to be taking to the Camry Hybrid that debuted late last year. And Toyota’s Lexus luxury badge increased January sales by 60 percent to 1,963 vehicles, likely a reflection of demand for the Lexus CT 200h hatchback that launched last year.

Other automakers weren’t so fortunate.

To put it mildly. I drove the CT 200h and liked it.

CHICAGO PAYS UP, with a big, fat check to the Second Amendment Foundation.

VOTER FRAUD UPDATE: Tim Tebow and Tom Brady Register to Vote in Minnesota.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Turning Up The Heat In Gibraltar. “With British-Argentine tensions escalating in the South Atlantic over the barren Falkland Islands, many observers, Via Meadia included, have predicted a similar confrontation over Gibraltar, Britain’s other controversial possession. Now this very scenario appears to be playing out, as Gibraltar’s new Chief Minister had scarcely ascended to his chair when Spain intensified its claim to the tiny peninsula—which, like the Falklands, happens to be full of people happy to remain British citizens. . . . Many may be surprised by the sudden interest in a centuries-old dispute between (mostly) friendly countries, but the timing is hardly surprising. Indeed, both David Cameron and Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy have much to gain from the conflict, which promises to distract from faltering economies and stubborn high unemployment (youth unemployment in Spain recently topped 50 percent).”

Hmm. What issue might our government use as a similar distraction?

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Virginia Handgun Limit On Its Way Out.

UPDATE: The WaPo has an online poll on whether the one-gun-a-month limit should be continued. So far the “no” vote seems to be way ahead.

TED NUGENT: The Great Keystone XL Pipeline Massacre.

BUT OF COURSE: D.C. accuses 130 of its own workers of fraud.

About 90 current District employees face dismissal and criminal prosecution after collecting unemployment benefits while on the government’s payroll, the city announced Monday.

An additional 40 former D.C. workers are also facing the possibility of a criminal probe for their role in the scheme that cost taxpayers up to $800,000. “It is unconscionable for anyone — and particularly District of Columbia employees, who should have high ethical standards — to be fraudulently collecting unemployment insurance to which they are not entitled,” D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan said in a statement.

“District of Columbia employees, who should have high ethical standards” — you gotta admire a guy who can say that with a straight face. Some are closer to reality, though:

But Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, the longest-serving member of the D.C. Council, said fraud has deep roots in District government.

“The city has a problem with this. Some of it’s money management, but some of it’s this culture of, ‘I can steal from the government, and I’m a government employee,'” Evans said. “It’s just a culture that has to stop, and I’m not sure how you make that stop other than to set an example.”

It won’t last.

AT AMAZON, a sale on Levi’s for men.

IT’S A TERRIBLE TREATY: Europeans Protest Anti-Piracy Treaty: Opponents say ACTA would curtail Internet freedom. I think to some people that’s not a bug, but a feature.

PUBLIC PENSION UPDATE: The unions may be dead set against it, but New Yorkers overwhelmingly support a new pension system for future government employees.

NO, WE DON’T. NEXT QUESTION. Do We Need Even Tighter Controls on Sudafed?

What really bothers me is the way that Humphreys–and others who show up in the comments–regard the rather extraordinary cost of making PSE prescription-only as too trivial to mention.

Let’s return to those 15 million cold sufferers. Assume that on average, they want one box a year. That’s going to require a visit to the doctor. At an average copay of $20, their costs alone would be $300 million a year, but of course, the health care system is also paying a substantial amount for the doctor’s visit. The average reimbursement from private insurance is $130; for Medicare, it’s about $60. Medicaid pays less, but that’s why people on Medicaid have such a hard time finding a doctor. So average those two together, and add the copays, and you’ve got at least $1.5 billion in direct costs to obtain a simple decongestant. But that doesn’t include the hassle and possibly lost wages for the doctor’s visits. Nor the possible secondary effects of putting more demands on an already none-too-plentiful supply of primary care physicians.

Of course, those wouldn’t be the real costs, because lots of people wouldn’t be able to take the time for a doctor’s visit. So they’d just be more miserable while their colds last. What’s the cost of that–in suffering, in lost productivity?

Perhaps it would be simpler to just raise the price of a box of Sudafed to $100. Surely that would make meth labs unprofitable–and save us the annoyance of a doctor’s visit.

I think these people should be exposed to toddler snot, then locked in a freezing basement with a bag of ragweed pollen tied over their head until they develop a proper appreciation for the consequences of their policies. Judging by what I’m reading in comments, quite a few allergy sufferers agree.

HMM: Major Obama Donors Tied To Fugitive Who Fled To Mexico. “Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.”

INDEED: Groups urge Congress to take it slow on piracy.

A coalition of about 70 advocacy groups and companies sent a letter to Congress on Monday urging lawmakers to take their time in drafting anti-piracy legislation.

“Now is the time for Congress to take a breath, step back, and approach the issues from a fresh perspective,” the groups wrote. “The concerns are too fundamental and too numerous to be fully addressed through hasty revisions to these bills. Nor can they be addressed by closed door negotiations among a small set of inside the-beltway stakeholders.”The letter was signed by advocacy groups including Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Free Press, Amnesty International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Companies such as Mozilla, reddit and Twitpic also signed the letter.

Support for two anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), evaporated last month after thousands of websites staged a massive protest. Lawmakers said they plan to re-work the legislation before moving forward.

Wait until after the election. And ponder why we protect intellectual property rights so much more . . . vigorously than we do other kinds of property right. What gives?

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers’ properties. “Under the ethics rules Congress has written for itself, this is both legal and undisclosed. . . . The congressional financial disclosure system obscures certain relationships. Lawmakers are not required to disclose the addresses of their personal residences or the employment of their children and parents. The lawmakers are also allowed to put properties in holding companies without disclosing the properties’ locations. Current versions of the Stock Act would not change that.”

BOB OWENS: Fast And Furious: Three Questions Not Asked. “Whether Operation Fast and Furious was a legitimate law enforcement operation, as the Department of Justice claims, or was part of a plot to impose gun control, it was radically different from all other border gun operations in one crucial way. Operation Fast and Furious was the only border gun operation that was undertaken with the full intention of the straw-purchased guns leaving the control of law enforcement officers and reaching the armories of drug cartel murderers. That fact alone should lead to the impeachment or administrative removal of everyone, from field agents to political appointees and elected officials that knew or should have known about the plot. But that is only half of the horror story.”

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): ‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World.

COULD THE HOUSING BUST LEAD TO A BABY BUST? It seems to me that as houses get cheaper, more people should want to have kids. I don’t understand why the research points the other way.

UPDATE: Dave Price emails:

We’re buying (or trying to buy, at least, it’s a short sale so who knows) a 5-bedroom house with the expectation of having at least 3 and maybe as many as 5-7 kids (our first was born a couple weeks ago). We never would have dreamed we could ever afford a house like this in 2007, and if we were staying in this townhouse we might have stuck with only one child.

OTOH I suppose the other side of that equation is the millions of people who can’t afford to buy anything, because they’re left the labor force.

Yeah, there is that.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jim Bennett emails:

European economics brings European demographics.

I agree with Dave Price’s last comment. I suspect most people in the family-starting age groups are finding it hard to get house loans right now. Also, the “reforms” on mortgages since 2009 have had the effect of making it harder for anybody getting income reported on a 1099 rather than a W-2 to get a mortgage. Another front in the war against the self-employed. And more and more young people are going to have to be self-employed.

Indeed.