Links, 3-23-12

Romney was basking in the glow of his victory in Illinois and endorsement by Jeb Bush when one of his aides said that Romney would be like an "etch-a-sketch" for the general election -- that he could start over in an effort to win over moderate voters.  Conservatives pounced on the comments, with Rick Santorum handing out etch-a-sketches to media at a press conference, to declare the Romney was flip-flopping again.

In a 5-4 decision, with Kennedy siding with the four liberal justices, the Supreme Court declared that the legal system should have more oversight over plea bargains and that lawyers must give competent advice to the clients they defend, opening the door for claims of incompetent representation after plea bargains.  One law scholar called it "the single greatest revolution in the criminal justice system" in the past 50 years.

Economist Christine Romer discusses recently published researching finding that while tax raises and cuts incentive people to work less and more, that the incentive is quite small and nowhere near enough to boost tax revenue through tax cuts or reduce tax revenue through tax increases.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has called a hearing to investigate bounties in professional sports in the wake of the Saints scandal


Environmental Links

A new report ranks Nashville 50th of 51 large cities in affordability of transportation.  Because of the sprawl and lack of public transit, metro Nashville residents spend about 29% of their income on commuting.

In an editorial, the NY Times points out that though gas prices have risen, the US now produces more oil and imports less than at any time in the past 10 years.

In an online debate over energy efficient products, an economist from the libertarian Cato Institute argues that we should "increase fossil fuel prices enough through taxation to account for [negative externalities]"

In the first three years of Obama's administration, real per-capita government spending has increased at a lower rate than all but one of the last six Presidents (Clinton).

President Obama yesterday declared his support for expedited construction of the Southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline, but not the Northern portion.

Oil and gas companies are taking advantage of new finds in the Marcellus Shale formation to build plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio that will produce CNG for cars.