Voter Fraud in Puerto Rico!

Ramesh Ponnuru gives this analysis of a hypothetical referendum on Puerto Rican statehood:

Let's say that 48 percent want the current status, 40 percent want statehood, and 14 percent want independence. If everyone votes that way, then current-status loses the first referendum and statehood probably wins the second one.

48%+40%+14%=102%!

Poland's Tragedy

More details are emerging about the victims of the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and nearly 100 other government officials and prominent citizens.  It is the equivalent of Air Force One crashing and leaving no survivors.

What makes this event all the more horrific is that Kaczynski and the other were on their way to Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.  In 1940, the NKVD killed approximately 20,000 Poles, mostly military officers captured when the Soviets invaded eastern Poland in 1939 as part of the Nazi-Soviet pact.  Stalin ordered the execution to wipe out Poland's military elite and destroy the nucleus of any opposition to Soviet occupation.  Thus, the two most tragic events of recent Polish history are conjoined.  In this case Marx was wrong.  History repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then again as more tragedy.

Rebel, Rebel

Virginia Governor Bob McDonald recently issued a proclamation honoring Confederate history month. I thought I would help him revise it for historical accuracy:

WHEREAS, April is the month in which the [white] people of Virginia [except the part that seceded from the state and became West Virginia] joined the Confederate States of America in a four year war [treasonous rebellion against the United States of America] between the states for independence that concluded at Appomattox Courthouse; and

WHEREAS, Virginia [Whites have] has long recognized her Confederate history, the numerous civil war battlefields that mark every region of the state, the [white] leaders and [white] individuals in the Army, Navy and at home who fought for their homes and communities and Commonwealth [slaves and racial privileges] in a time [obviously not so] very different than ours today; and

WHEREAS, it is important for all [white] Virginians to reflect upon our Commonwealth’s shared history, to understand the sacrifices of the [black] Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War, and to recognize how our history has led to our present; and

WHEREAS, Confederate historical sites such as the White House of the Confederacy [slave quarters in Colonial Williamsburg and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation] are open for people to visit in Richmond today; and

WHEREAS, all Virginians can appreciate the fact that when ultimately [seemingly] overwhelmed by the [tyranny of slavery, black Virginians] insurmountable numbers and resources of the Union Army, the surviving, imprisoned and injured Confederate soldiers gave their word and allegiance to the United States of America, and returned to their homes and families to rebuild their communities in peace, following the instruction of General Robert E. Lee of Virginia, who wrote that, “...all should unite in honest efforts to obliterate the effects of war and to restore the blessings of peace."; and

WHEREAS, this defining chapter in Virginia’s history should not be forgotten, but instead should be studied, understood and remembered by all Virginians, both in the context of the time in which it took place, but also in the context of the time in which we live, and this study and remembrance takes on particular importance as the Commonwealth prepares to welcome the nation and the world to visit Virginia for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War, a four-year period in which the exploration of our history can benefit all;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert McDonnell, do hereby recognize April 2010 as [ANTI-] CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.

Babbling Brooks

I like that David Brooks uses social science research to inform his writing, but he does have a tendency to interpret that work in ways that reinforce his own political preferences. In today's NYT, Brooks comments on data showing that wealthier Americans work more hours than poorer Americans and asks, "How do you construct a rich versus poor narrative when the rich are more industrious?"

But are the rich more industrious or just better rewarded for their industry? Recently The Economist took up this issue and pointed to research showing that class mobility in the US in much lower than in many European nations. As a result:

With only an 8 percent shot at joining the richest quintile, it's not surprising that America's poor work far fewer hours. If working harder is a key ingredient in growing per capita income, then America ought to be interested in increasing the return to work across all income categories. The poor, like the Europeans, are rational, not lazy.

The Economist also points to the relationship between hours worked and marginal tax rates. If we are, as many conservatives claim, on the downslope of the Laffer Curve, then the higher tax rates of the wealthy should cause them to work less, not more than the less wealthy who have lower tax rates. But that's not the case.