Today’s Links: September 26, 2012

OPINION

MICHAEL F. CANNON & JONATHAN ADLER: “The IRS Has Gone Rogue”
“A president who says “I haven’t raised taxes” has authorized his Internal Revenue Service issue a “final rule” that will illegally tax some 12 million individuals, plus large employers, in as many as 40 states beginning in 2014. Oklahoma’s attorney general has asked a federal court to block this rule. Members of Congress have introduced legislation in both the House and the Senate to quash it.”

LEE LANE: “No Real Justification For Green Jobs”
“President Obama’s support for green energy policies is unprecedented in its scope and scale. His policies remain very costly even as resources have become painfully scarce. Oddly, through time, the stated goals of the president’s policies’ have seemed to shift. Energy independence and green jobs have largely replaced the earlier stress on global warming. But while the policies’ rationale has evolved, the president’s support for them has never wavered. What explains this pattern?”

JEFF RUBIN: “On Keystone, Environmentalists Lose by Winning”
“TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s proposed $7.6 billion Keystone pipeline system, which would take crude from Alberta’s tar sands down through the Midwest and on to Texas and the Gulf Coast refineries, could be scuttled because of concerns about its potential impact on a major aquifer in Nebraska. President Barack Obama has blocked the project application, citing the need for further review. TransCanada intends to reapply, but a decision won’t be made until after the U.S. presidential election. Yet environmentalists could find that an apparent victory over Keystone will do more harm than good. The U.S. economy, meanwhile, is set to learn a hard lesson.”

NEWS

PRIVACY – Privacy bill requires search warrants for e-mail, cell tracking
“Police must get warrants to access Americans’ e-mail and track their cell phones, according to new privacy legislation that promises to spark a political spat between high-tech firms and law enforcement.

ANTITRUST – Biglari Agrees to Antitrust Fine in Cracker Barrel Deal
“Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH), a chain- restaurant operator, agreed to pay $850,000 to settle procedural antitrust violations stemming from its purchase of shares in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (CBRL) U.S. antitrust regulators alleged Biglari violated premerger reporting laws in connection with its 2011 acquisition of a stake in the Lebanon, Tennessee-based restaurant and gift shop operator. Businesses run by San Antonio-based Biglari Holdings include Steak ‘n Shake and Western Sizzlin restaurant chains.”

TECHNOLOGY – While Apple Waits, Google Is Busy Making Indoor Maps and Underwater Maps
“The backlash over deficiencies and inaccuracies in Apple’s new maps app has Apple squirming and iPhone users yearning for the day when Google unveils its own third-party maps app for Apple’s mobile operating system. That day is coming, eventually, according to The Verge and the New York Times‘ Bits blog. The Verge reports that Google is ‘scrambling‘ to build such an app, but was caught off guard by Apple’s decision in June to drop Google maps from its native apps package. “