Today’s Links: April 27, 2012

OPINION

HENRY BLODGET: “Don’t Mean To Be Clueless, But Why Does The U.S. Have A Law Against Bribing Foreign Governments?”
“Walmart’s in serious hot water because its executives allegedly paid $24 million in bribes to Mexican government officialsto facilitate store openings. […] Why does the U.S. have a law against bribing foreign government officials? After all, in some countries, like China, giving ‘gifts’ to business partners is just the way business gets done. So why should giving gifts to Chinese business partners be illegal in the United States?”

CHRIS CHOCOLA: “Taxpayers Fund Crony Capitalism”
“We have always been a nation of free enterprise. It has set us apart from most others and allowed us to lead the world in innovation and entrepreneurialism. But today, those underpinnings of our success are under threat. Government has become a behemoth that is overtaking industries and distorting markets in such a way that competition and self-reliance as we know it are barely recognizable.”

GEORGE WILL: “Governments Deserve the Freedom to Fail”
“After trying to tax Illinois to governmental solvency and economic dynamism, Pat Quinn, a Democrat who has been governor since 2009, now says ‘our rendezvous with reality has arrived.’ Actually, Illinois is still reality-averse, so Americans may soon learn the importance of the freedom to fail in a system of competitive federalism.”

NEWS

INDIA – Even if Consensual, Sexual Contact With a Girl Under 18 Will be a Criminal Offense
“The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved tabling afresh in Parliament the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011, which would make sexual contact with a girl below the age of 18 a criminal offence, even if it is consensual. ”

INTERNET – Google Rebuffs FCC Over Wifi Flap
“Google rejected the FCC’s argument that the company obstructed an investigation of the so-called Wi-Spy privacy flap — blaming the FCC in part for the delay — in a stinging rebuke filed with the agency Thursday.”

LEGAL – Gov. Rick Scott’s Order to Drug Test State Workers Ruled Unconstitutional
“A Miami federal judge declared that Gov. Rick Scott’s executive order to conduct random drug tests of 85,000 state employees amounted to an ‘unreasonable’ search under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.”