PLCB. Unethical behavior.

Recall earlier how desperate liquor privatization folks were getting.  Well, its gotten worse.  With the actual legislative outcome still up in the air, we see dirty tricks everywhere.

The video says (or shows) it all ...  To think, all of this to avoid a free market.  Sad.

Increase in PA gasoline tax coming?

Pennsylvania is on the verge of adding 28 cents per gallon to the gas tax.  

This is part of the transportation bill legislation.  As someone in the Susquehanna Valley, this bill also contains a provision to build the new Susquehanna Valley bypass - a project that would alleviate some terrible congestion on a stretch of highway in this area.  This is good.  However, it contains a higher gasoline tax.

Using a higher gasoline tax to fund the bypass is interesting.  My overall thoughts:

1. In general, our tax rates our too high, and I don't want more taxes.  There is plenty of government waste that should be cut first before resorting to tax increases.

2. The Bypass is desperately needed.  The congestion it would relieve would be like a tax cut - especially for the thousands of people who take the route from Washington/Baltimore/Harrisburg to mid-NY state on weekends.  The decrease in time spent waiting in traffic has a huge value to society.  This is the type of project that should have been in the original US stimulus package, as it would provide employment for many while providing a useful product for society.  (But Obama was too busy funding failing "green" companies that produced nothing and are now out-of-business.)

3.  Gas taxes have pros and cons.  The pro is a higher gas tax could account for the negative externalities of pollution.  If you have to implement taxes to raise revenue, why not tax pollution?  Economists on the right who like the idea of a gas tax (e.g., Greg Mankiw) would want some other tax cut simultaneously.  The negatives are it is a) it's a tax, and taxes are already too high, b) It is a regressive tax.  It hurts working class and middle class families more than rich families, as they'll pay a higher percentage of their income in this tax.  Higher prices for gas also have devastating consequences for the rest of the economy.

Overall, based on the positives and negatives, I'm pretty indifferent over whether this bill should be passed if there are no changes.  The ideal outcome is the bypass is built without a gas tax (i.e., other spending is cut), but I doubt that will happen, unfortunately.

More on why online gambling (and online poker) should be legal ...

I got an email from someone from the site Cardschat.com about an open letter they wrote to Sheldon Adelson.  It challenges much of what he wrote in an oped to Forbes last week.

The letter is long but contains many useful facts, and can be read in its entirety here.

An excerpt:

Our industry, specifically online poker, is still relatively young, being about 19 years-old. However, its youth breeds innovation and attracts creative thinkers and visionaries. It contains people who can see the marketplace changing, encouraging them to jump ahead of the pack to predict the next big consumer stampede.

You’ve run over 50 successful businesses, Mr Adelson. You surely remember what it was like to be a visionary? Such as when you ripped down the Sands to make way for the Venetian? Or when you gained a foothold in Macau?

Of course that was because you had freedom. 

Assorted Links

1.  Want to be happy ... don't commute.

Contains this paragraph, which I agree with completely!

Money improves happiness only to a point, although you can get more happiness per dollar by spending money on experiences instead of possessions, spending on others, and buying many small pleasures instead of a few big ones.

I certainly don't think I've hit that "to a point", but I completely agree that spending money on experiences is so much better than on possessions.  At least that's the case for me.

2.  Another of Sowell's brilliant "Random Thoughts".

Has this tidbit:

Have you heard any gun control advocate even try to produce hard evidence that tighter gun control laws reduce murder rates? Does anyone seriously believe that people who are prepared to defy the laws against murder are going to obey laws against owning guns or large capacity magazines?

3.  Story on commissions for a song played on Pandora.

The story is interesting, but this comment, to me, was outstanding.

Your song was played to 1,159,000 times on Pandora (individual plays). This paid him $16.89 or 1.457 cents/1,000 times, but each play is only listened to by one listener

On Sirius it was played 179 times (to an unknown amount of listeners), paying you $181.04 or 101.14 cents/time. 69,416 times as much as Pandora. But to put it another way, if the average play on Sirius had more than 69,417 listeners, you were being stiffed by Sirius.

On terrestrial radio it was played 18,797 times (to an unknown amount of listeners), paying him $1,373.78 or 7.31 cents/time. This is 5,016 times as much as Pandora, but only 7.2% of what Sirius pays you. But here the average play only has to have 5,017 listeners for terrestrial radio to be stiffing you.

Now, since both Sirius XM and terrestrial radio are broadcasts, targeting multiple listeners at once, I’m not entirely certain that Pandora is cheating you out of anything – and it’s interesting that you’re not complaining about terrestrial radio only paying you a fraction of what Sirius pays you.

4.  Jayson Lusk on the John Stossel show. 

My oped on online gambling in Forbes

Link here

An excerpt:  

The case to prevent consenting adults from engaging in a game of chance, simply because it is over the internet, is the ultimate in nanny-state behavior.  With the July 4th holiday fast approaching, many Americans think about the ideals on which our country was founded.  For me, I think of freedom. 

Note 1 - I had written much more, as there were a couple iterations of this before Forbes accepted it.  More will be posted on my blog or in another oped soon.

Note 2 - for the opposite perspective, see casino owner Sheldon Adelson's oped in Forbes last week.

Clarence Thomas quote in SCOTUS race case ...

Link here.

Here is one quote from Thomas:

"It is also noteworthy that, in our desegregation cases, we rejected arguments that are virtually identical to those advanced by the University today. The University asserts, for instance, that the diversity obtained through its discriminatory admissions program prepares its students to become leaders in a diverse society... The segregationists likewise defended segregation on the ground that it provided more leadership opportunities for blacks."

How much of the college in Monsters U is based on Susquehanna University?

I'm very excited to see Monsters University, as I have three kids and I think this looks like one of the better kids movies to come out.  My family is going to see it in about a week.

There is a rumor going around that some of the traits of the college were based on Susquehanna University. When I saw this trailer, I could believe it.

Edit - More evidence ... Look at the building in the background on this picture ...

Look familiar?