Politics and otehr nightmares

A couple of months ago, Minnesota tacked an andditional $1.50 per pack sin tax on cigarettes. Smokers in that state near the North Dakota border took the rational option of going across the state line to buy their smokes at much cheaper prices. This is one "laboratory of democracy" lesson other states should heed (and luckily most of our leaders here seem to get it):

It had to happen eventually -- I actually agree with Eric Holder on something:

Maybe there is hope for the human race after all:

We all know the federal government is so invested in "clean" energy that it will waste billions of dollars to prop up technology that can never deliver what is promised. Anybody suspect they'd go this far, though?

It's the not-so-green secret of the nation's wind-energy boom: Spinning turbines are killing thousands of federally protected birds, including eagles, each year.

I think the Washington Post's Dana Milbank has created a false choice here between "temperance" and "extremism":

For a dozen years, Paul Ryan and Mike Pence were Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives and fellow soldiers in the conservative movement. Last week, they parted ways: one toward temperance, the other toward extremism.

Say, isn't it wonderful that both the Indiana House and Senate have Republican supermajorities and we can get through an entire legislative session without a big fight? Oh, wait . . .

Legislative Republicans‘ budget differences with Governor Pence go well beyond his tax-cut plan. Speaker Brian Bosma says the Republican House will propose more school funding than the one-percent increases offered by the new governor.

Cheer up, you sick puppy, at least we don't live in Lousiana:

Indiana has never been considered a leader in public health. We were late to the no-public-smoking party. Soda-size limits, ala New York City, would not fly here. No mountains or seashores compel us to exercise.

Gov. Daniels on staying true to federalism even if it hurts:

Remember how even Gov. Mitch Daniels salivated over the $17 million in "stimulus tax credits" the Obama administration was going to give us for a wonderful green energy adventure? But, surprise, surprise, it turns out not that nobody wants to buy a $42,000 electric car useless for anything but short, in-city trips:

The always-predictable left is going absolutely nuts over Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan for the vice presidential slot. As she so often does, Maureen Dowd perfectly distills the hysteria and makes it her own:

I’d been wondering how long it would take Republicans to realize that Paul Ryan is their guy.