Today’s Links: February 27, 2012

OPINION

RUSS ROBERTS: “The Insanity of Health Insurance
“It is insane that we get our health care from our employers. That happens because we have given a tax advantage to in-kind compensation such as health care. It’s a horrible idea and it leads people to complain about our employers deciding what health care we can receive. Our employers are just a conduit for government mandates, rent-seeking and inefficiency related to health care.”

SEN. JOHN THUNE: “Obama Policies Threaten America’s Energy Boom
“During our historically slow economic recovery, the energy industry has been a bright spot amid otherwise gloomy economic news. Domestic energy production is increasing, and jobs are beginning to spring up around new energy construction. President Barack Obama likes to take credit for this energy boom, but in reality, recent U.S. energy growth is largely a result of private-sector investment and policies put in place by his predecessors. The energy policies this president has adopted are jeopardizing the progress we have made, and if he continues them, the U.S. energy boom could soon be over.”

ILYA SHAPIRO: “The Voting Rights Act is Outmoded, Unworkable
“The U.S. Supreme Court was surely correct last month when it unanimously overturned the Texas electoral maps a San Antonio federal district court drew because that court did not use the “appropriate standards” in drawing them. The Court explained that, regardless of the legal ambiguities and other challenges the lower court faced, it still had to use the maps enacted by the state Legislature as a starting point and only depart from them in redrawing districts that could violate the Voting Rights Act or the Constitution. Fair enough, but this reasonable-sounding decision belies larger issues: The Voting Rights Act has served its purpose but is now outmoded and unworkable — and is thus itself now unconstitutional.”

NEWS

SAFETY NET – Ex-Cop Admits To Robbing Bank To Get Health Benefits In Federal Prison
“A former Columbus police officer admitted in court that he robbed a bank last year so he can get health benefits being in a federal prison. Edward Pascucci told U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land Thursday that he was facing “severe health problems” and homelessness when he decided to rob the Citizens Trust Bank last August, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

CANADA – Dad Arrested Over Daughter’s Gun Drawing
“Police arrested a Kitchener, Ont., father outside his daughter’s school because the four-year-old drew a picture of him holding a gun. Jessie Sansone told the Record newspaper that he was in shock when he was arrested Wednesday and taken to a police station for questioning over the drawing. He was also strip-searched.”

SMOKING – Rocklin City Council Asked to Ban Residents From Smoking Outside Their Own Homes
“The Rocklin City Council was asked to consider making it against the law for smokers to smoke anywhere outside on their property. […] Rocklin City Manager Rick Horst said the city has ‘no intention of considering the matter.'”