College Rankings
Washington Monthly has put out its annual answer to the US News college rankings, even going so far as to launch a new blog devoted to the subject. Steve Benen highlights some of the findings: * Only one of the U.S. News top ten universities -- Stanford -- makes the Washington Monthly's top ten, while high profile institutions such as Princeton, Duke ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 2, 2009 13:06
Federalism and Democracy
Continuing a long-running theme at his blog, Matt Yglesias laments that Senators from small states wield so much power. The latest fuel is a NYT feature on six moderates who are supposedly the linchpins to putting together a bipartisan health care deal and who routinely hash out the details of same over snacks. [V]ast power is being wielded by people who, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 28, 2009 14:37
California’s IOU’s (Updated)
As has been widely publicized cash-strapped California has decided to temporize on its budget impasse by issuing IOU's to creditors. This brings up an interesting question. Article I Section 10 of the U. S. Constitution states: No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 13, 2009 13:21
Irvine’s Little Police State
Kevin Drum links an LAT piece on the "charm" of Irvine, California, a "little planned community" that both conforms perfectly to Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes" stereotype - with houses made out of ticky tacky that all look the same -- and seems to make everyone who lives there feel safe and happy. And, mostly, it is indeed quite charming. But ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 09:53
Great Compromise Not So Great?
Matt Yglesias has discovered the facts that 1) each state gets two Senators and 2) some states are bigger than others, a condition that has obtained since the inception of our current system in 1789. There was, as some may recall having read, this thing called the Great Compromise whereby delegates representing sovereign states under the extant Articles of Confederation ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 16, 2009 11:50
Republican Party of Whites?
A Gallup poll released yesterday finds that, "More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives, while most of the rest are whites with other ideological leanings; only 11% of Republicans are Hispanics, or are blacks or members of other races. By contrast, only 12% of Democrats are white conservatives, while about half are white moderates or liberals and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 2, 2009 08:14
California Supremes Uphold Prop 8 AND Gay Marriage
In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court "upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage" but it "also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed," Lisa Leff reports for AP. [caption id="attachment_36613" align="alignright" width="399" caption="People wait in line for a decision from the California State Supreme Court on the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 26, 2009 14:58
Just Prisoners There, Of Their Own Device
Jon Henke Twitters: "The California referendum proves that what voters want to spend is not well-connected with what voters are willing to pay." Quite right. Californian Kevin Drum takes as a given that his state is "broken" but sees no solution in sight. While he's in favor of Governor Schwarzenegger's idea of a constitutional convention to fix some of the institutional ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 21, 2009 09:29
Mitt Romney Moving to New Hampshire
Mitt Romney is busy selling off a few of many his mansions and plans to move to his family vacation home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Hotline reports. He has also registered his PAC there. This has some people guessing that Romney is contemplating another run for the presidency. "No doubt in my mind that they are doing the necessary maintenance to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 7, 2009 08:03
State of the Republican Party
Some loosely related threads seen on memeorandum this morning: California's Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger allows as to how he could conceivably endorse a Democrat as his successor — while insisting that he will himself remain a Republican Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton likened the Bowl Championship Series, which determines college football's top division's national championship, to Communism. Red State's Erick Erickson repeatedly Twitters ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 2, 2009 06:56
Berkeley Energy Police Coming
A reader sends along a recent Survey USA poll question: The city of Berkeley is considering a law that would require all homes to be audited to be sure they meet strict energy standards in the city's plan to fight global warming. This would mean new double-paned windows, attic insulation, a new white roof that reflects heat, a forced-air furnace and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 27, 2009 13:22
Jerry Brown Next California Governor?
Taegan Goddard passes along a Tulchin Research poll showing that Jerry Brown is the overwhelming favorite to get the Democratic nomination for California governor. Granted, the primary is more than a year away. Still, this is rather amusing. The first time Brown got elected governor, I was in grade school and he was a 37-year-old swinging bachelor who famously dated Linda ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 26, 2009 15:37
When Unreasonable Searches Become Reasonable
Tim Sandefur passes along this from Shaun Martin: You're sitting in your car, minding your own business, in the parking lot of a motel. A cop sees you and starts questioning you, and you even consent to a patdown search and a search of your car, which finds nothing. What's the reasonable suspicion? Nothing. But you go along with it to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 14, 2009 11:49
Alcopop Taxes Fizzle As Manufacturers Outsmart Lawmakers
The attempt by California to tax sweet malt liquors as spirits in order to extract higher tax revenues under the guise of protecting minors from themselves isn't working out so well. Substance-abuse foes cheered last year when state officials cracked down on sweet, sometimes fizzy, intoxicating drinks such as Mike's Hard Lemonade that -- save for their alcohol content -- bear ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 16, 2009 12:08
Housing Foreclosure Map
A recent study seems to confirm a point that Dave Schuler has been making repeatedly for months: the housing bubble is a narrowly targeted geographic phenomenon: Via Andrew Sullivan [Yes, him again. -ed.], who summarizes, "66 percent of potential housing value losses in 2008 and subsequent years may be in California, with another 21 percent in Florida, Nevada and Arizona, for ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 3, 2009 15:12
