ANOTHER REASON TO REVISIT BAKER V. CARR?

Politically and economically, you can think of New York as actually two states, maybe three, lashed together. Downstate is rich, funded by high-skilled and high-productivity industries like finance and advertising. It’s also liberal. Western and northern New York are poor, either rural or deindustrializing, and conservative.

In theory, this should be a good deal for New Yorkers outside the downstate area; they should enjoy high levels of government spending funded by richer people downstate. Instead, in some ways it’s proven a disaster. Decades of population decline mean that Democrats control the state assembly and drive policies — like the Medicaid financing system — that work well enough downstate, but prove disastrous in the rest of the state.

The heavy regulatory and tax burden on those poorer counties makes their problems worse. As population has declined, jobs and young skilled workers have fled, while the old and needy remained. Anyone thinking of moving back (and lots of exiles want to), faces not only the burden of finding a job, but also of paying the taxes that downstate politics require.

When the problem gets too bad, the state legislature tosses some money at those declining counties. But the fundamental problem doesn’t go away, and they continue to slowly strangle under a government burden designed for the politics and economics of a richer place.

This is why Congress should take action under the Guarantee Clause to ensure that state politics aren’t totally dominated by small-but-densely-populated urban centers.

USAF PRACTICES ATTACK ON NORTH KOREA: Turn about is fair play. North Korea claimed a recent missile test was “practice” for an attack on U.S. bases in Japan.

A USAF B1-B bomber:

…reportedly left from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and performed training exercises with Japanese F-15J fighters before joining the South Korean drills. Japan, another regional U.S. ally, has also expressed concern over militant rhetoric from North Korea, and conducted its first-ever civilian air raid drills last week after Pyongyang launched a barrage of missiles into the sea near Japanese territory.

Guess the Bomber Trifecta photo’s become a perennial. And it should be. Though it needs a temporary caption. Let’s call it an operational caption. How about “Special Delivery For Kim Jong Un.” I like that.

UPDATE: Commenters are suggesting some cool operational captions. Here’s another caption to consider: “Trump Cards.” Since January 20 that phrase has new meaning.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Worried about getting old? Poll sees optimism grow with age. Are these really changes in optimism with age, or are older generations more optimistic than younger ones?

OF COURSE THEY ARE: Liberals Suddenly Incensed About Budget Process Obama Blew Off For Eight Years.

NOW, TAKE HIM TO DETROIT! Popular Science Claims Climate Change Will Force People to Michigan.

(Classical reference in headline.)

EVEN THEN? Millennials Don’t Consider Themselves Adults Until 30.

CHAOS ON THE HILL: Health Care Vote Canceled After GOP Leaders Fail to Win Support.

House Republican leaders abruptly postponed a planned vote on the GOP health care bill Thursday as they struggled to find sufficient support to pass it. GOP lawmakers have been told procedural votes on the bill will still be held tonight and that a full vote on the measure could take place Friday.

The move to delay the vote came after House conservatives said there was no deal struck on the bill following a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday. According to the NBC vote count, GOP leaders were still at least eight votes short of winning enough backing for passage.

Rep. Mark Meadows R.-N.C., chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters that there was no deal after the meeting, but added he was still hopeful one can be struck.

“I am very hopeful we can find a way to yes,” Meadows said.

Both houses found a way to yes last year, when they were certain President Obama would veto their full repeal bill.

CAR AND DRIVER: Swag Story: Treasures from the Closet of C/D’s Longest-Serving Staffer, Don Sherman. I’d like a Concours d’Lemons T-Shirt.

VIDEO: Obama’s DHS Secretary Shocks an MSNBC Panel When He Says Trump Could ‘Be a Great President’

THUGGERY: Former Russian lawmaker shot dead in Ukraine.

A former Russian lawmaker who became a vociferous critic of Moscow following his recent move to Ukraine was shot and killed in Kiev Thursday, prompting another war of words between the two countries.

Denis Voronenkov, who testified to Ukrainian investigators and criticized Russian policies after his move to Kiev last fall, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman near the entrance of an upscale hotel in the Ukrainian capital.

During the attack, Voronenkov’s bodyguard, who fired back, was wounded. Both were hospitalized but Ukrainian officials said the gunman, who they claimed was a Ukrainian citizen, later died from wounds in his chest and head.

Footage following the exchange of gunfire showed the three men lying on the sidewalk. Voronenkov’s bodyguard, a Ukrainian security services officer, was seen rolling on the ground and then being helped to an ambulance by paramedics.

The killing prompted an angry exchange between the two countries whose relations have soured badly in recent years following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Weak regimes can’t abide critics.

NORTH KOREAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS TROOPS: Hmmm. There are indications they’re having morale problems.

CICADAPOCALYPSE: What you need to know.

TRUMP SHOULD GET BEHIND “RIGHT TO REPAIR” LEGISLATION: There’s a Thriving John Deere Black Market as Farmers Fight for “Right to Repair.” “A flourishing black market of John Deere parts exists online, connecting farmers in rural America with counterparts in Eastern Europe to buy unlocked firmware crucial to tractors. . . . Those who use the black market, documented in a report by Motherboard, claim they are driven to it by restrictive licensing agreement by Deere, one of the largest tractor companies in the world. Those restrictions would bar the tractors’ users from fixing its hardware or software themselves, but such rules are currently being challenged by so-called ‘right to repair’ legislation working its way various states at the moment, including farming-heavy Nebraska.”

AT AMAZON, Freshen Up Your Place For Spring.

Plus, check out the Amazon Easter Shop.

TOLERANCE: Princeton Seminary Retracts Award to Tim Keller — Over Women and LGBT Pastors.

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Navy Needs As Much As $150B Extra to ‘Jump-Start’ Path to 355 Ships; Would Buy Mostly DDGs, SSNs, Carriers.

Threats shrink and grow, but the oceans never get any smaller.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: This Is The Easiest Way To Escape A Sinking Vehicle. Knowing HOW Might Save Your Life Some Day. Well, the best way is to escape before it submerges.

They seem to be using a Res-Q-Me tool in the window-breaking demonstration.

HMM: Nunes apologizes to House Intel Committee, member says.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes apologized to committee members Thursday, a Democrat on the panel told reporters, coming the day after Nunes told the public and the President that communications of him and associates may have been collected by intelligence agencies before telling Democratic members of the committee.

Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat , said Nunes apologized at their meeting Thursday morning. Nunes also promised to provide the same information he’s viewed to the committee members but did not offer a specific timeline.

“Apologize for what?” the wise man once asked.

I’D START PREPARING SOONER THAN THAT: In 3 days I’ll go to prison for a long time. What should I prepare?

BRIDGET JOHNSON: Black Caucus Gives Trump ‘We Have a Lot to Lose’ Policy Blueprint.

The White House said that during the closed-door meeting “the participants discussed various issues pertaining to the African American community, including the president’s commitment to improving conditions for distressed communities.”

“The president voiced his desire to work with the CBC to improve educational and economic opportunities, enhance public safety, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and invest in infrastructure,” the readout added.

“Throughout my campaign I pledged to focus on improving conditions for African-American citizens, this means more to me than anybody can understand,” Trump said when the press pool was briefly allowed in the meeting room.

The CBC tweeted afterward that Richmond told Trump his comments about President Obama and inner cities were “hurtful” to the African-American community and that Carson, one of two Muslim members of Congress, told Trump “he is Muslim & Muslims shouldn’t be treated differently and #MuslimBan is not who we are.”

If that tweet is any indication, the CBC isn’t just unwilling to meet Trump halfway, they aren’t even much interested in honest negotiations.

JD TUCKER: Just repeal.

The net result of full repeal would be to allow the consumer-driven market to push competition and force insurance companies to compete. It amuses me when people say, “But repeal will only make the health insurance executives richer!” As Trump would say… “Wrong!” They love having millions of Americans who would never willingly purchase health insurance being forced to by it by their government overlords.

Get government out of health insurance and premiums will go down for a vast majority of Americans. Allow the free market economy and the crowdfunding power of 2017 (plus charities, family, and community) to help those who need it the most. Government’s only role should be as the absolute last resort. Just repeal it.

ObamaCare is a rickety structure that will eventually collapse under its own weight, but will collapse even sooner if you pull out a few of its support beams — which is what Paul Ryan’s AHCA does.

The former result would be the fault of Obama/Reid/Pelosi. The latter would be pinned, and rightly so, on Trump/McConnell/Ryan.

I DUNNO, WILL IT HELP MY DEADLIFT? Should 15,000 Steps a Day Be Our New Exercise Target?

EUNCERTAINTY: Italy’s buoyant 5-Star keeps options open on euro referendum.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Italy’s most popular political party, said on Thursday a referendum on the euro was not its top priority and that it hoped Europe would reform before a ballot could be arranged.

Benefiting from a schism in the ruling Democratic Party, opinion polls suggest 5-Star is likely to win 2018 elections and its policies are coming under increasing scrutiny, especially a plan for a euro referendum which scares financial markets.

Lower house deputy Luigi Di Maio, 30, who is widely expected to be 5-Star’s candidate for prime minister, told foreign reporters the euro referendum would take time to organize, and tackling poverty in Italy was more urgent.

“In the meantime we hope that European institutions come to their senses,” he said at a news conference to present 5-Star’s policies on the European Union.

“It’s not true that 5-Star wants to take Italy out of the euro,” he said. “We want Italians to decide.”

It’s EU tradition to allow members states as many referenda as necessary to get the EU-desired result, so there’s no telling what 5-Star really means.

MORE, PLEASE: Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaking 26%+ efficiency.

The silicon-based cells that make up a solar panel have a theoretical efficiency limit of 29 percent, but so far that number has proven elusive. Practical efficiency rates in the low-20-percent range have been considered very good for commercial solar panels. But researchers with Japanese chemical manufacturer Kaneka Corporation have built a solar cell with a photo conversion rate of 26.3 percent, breaking the previous record of 25.6 percent. Although it’s just a 2.7 percent increase in efficiency, improvements in commercially viable solar cell technology are increasingly hard-won.

Not only that, but the researchers noted in their paper that after they submitted their article to Nature Energy, they were able to further optimize their solar cell to achieve 26.6 percent efficiency. That result has been recognized by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).

The thought that the sun beams so much power to us for free, and that we’re able to collect so little of it, is a frustrating one.