From the little information available out there, it looks like Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is getting about 1% of the vote, and doing so pretty consistently nationwide. This constitutes the Libertarians’ best showing since 1980, when they had a well-funded campaign (unlike this year) thanks to self-funded VP candidate David Koch, and also received […]
Archive | November, 2012
Eleventh Circuit Holds Federal International Drug Trafficking Statute (Applied to Conduct Abroad) Exceeds the Power of Congress
From today’s United States v. Bellaizac-Hurtado (11th Cir. Nov. 6, 2012): This appeal presents a novel issue about the scope of congressional power to proscribe conduct abroad: whether the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506, exceeds the power of Congress to “define and punish … Offences against the Law of Nations,” […]
“The Most Consequential Election in U.S. History” . . . Or Maybe Not
Presidential nominees always like to say that the upcoming election is the most consequential election in U.S. history. And it’s true that every Presidential election is very important, especially in the modern era of a very powerful federal government. At the same time, my guess is that this election was actually one of the less […]
Congratulations to President Obama
I’m going to bed early tonight, but it appears that President Obama has won reelection. Congratulations and best wishes to him, and to all our friends and readers who supported him.
Obama Wins!
At about 11:14pm ET, FOX News just called the race for Obama.
Overnight Stock Market Futures Down (Only) 1%
At 10:16pm ET on Tuesday night, the S&P 500 mini stock futures are down 13.75 points, or just under 1%. The Dow futures are similarly down 107 points. Roughly, a move of this size in the market tomorrow would just erase today’s gains. Accordingly, those few investors who feared a big down day on Wednesday […]
Virginia Eminent Domain Reform Question 1 Passes
We don’t yet have the final results. But Virginia news radio station WINA 1070 is projecting that Question 1, the Virginia eminent domain reform referendum question, is going to pass by an “overwhelming” margin. For reasons I outlined here and here, this is an important improvement over the present Virginia constitution, which is one of […]
Election Night 1960
Pretty interesting to watch, and especially to compare the technology of 1960 to that of today. There’s a short intro, and then Chet Huntley and David Brinkley start at around the 2:45 mark.
Exit Polls Hinting Positive Things for Romney; [Actual Voting Trending Toward an Obama Win]
As the first exit polls are discussed, only certain internal questions are reported. Among them is the percentage thinking that they are better off than four years ago. AP is reporting that only 25% of voters in exit polls report being better off. That contrasts with a Gallup Poll of two weeks ago showing 38% […]
Second Amendment election results
As the results come in tonight, I will blog here about the results as they affect the Second Amendment. In an article last week for National Review Online, I previewed all the Senate and Governor races, and all the competitive House races. Election night starts with a net +3 for the Second Amendment in the Senate, […]
Trende on the Election: A Nailbiter
For those who can’t get enough election speculation, Sean Trende, whose work I think highly of, examines the relevant information and concludes that the national polls are more likely to be correct than the state polls (he was ambivalent on this before). He concludes that it’s going to be a very tight race, decided by […]
Suffer the Little Children to Vote
By Ilya Somin on November 6, 2012 11:05 am in Democracy, Election Law, Political Ignorance, Voting Rights for Children
On this election day, as on most others, we will hear a lot about the need to increase turnout and the dangers of voter suppression. But few will even consider questioning the systematic exclusion of a huge part of our population from the franchise: children under the age of 18. We allow even the most […]
The Case for Abstaining from Ignorant Voting
Today, Americans will have an opportunity to vote on a wide range of candidates and ballot initiatives. In many cases, however, we will be voting on candidates and issues that we know very little about. It is rational for most voters to be ignorant about most issues, because the chance of casting a decisive ballot […]
Liberty Forum on Kelo
I have the lead essay in a Liberty Forum discussion on the economics and political economy of Kelo. The thrust of the argument is that Kelo is not defensible under the standard economics analysis of takings law and creates political economy problems. So I argue, for example, that the terms of Kelo arguably create a […]
When Angry, Redistributionists Tend to Plot Revenge. For Them, Voting Might Indeed Be the “Best Revenge.”
It is not surprising that President Obama, a strong proponent of doing more to equalize incomes, would speak about voting as the “best revenge.” After all, as I explored in “What Drives Views on Government Redistribution and Anti-capitalism: Envy or a Desire for Social Dominance?” (available at SSRN), strong proponents of income leveling are more […]