Why Do People Vote the Way They Do?

Bryon Allen and Chris Wilson's article in the November/December 2009 Politics Magazine addresses the use of heuristics in defining voter behavior. Allen and Wilson first warn against assuming voters are paying close attention to a campaign and thus acting as a "rational voter." And the authors, likewise, advise not to give voters too little credit, assuming they are "ignorant voters."

Allen and Wilson identify four categories that they call heuristics that can explain voter decision-making:

1. Affect -- a quick decision based on an initial reaction to a candidate
   
2. Single Factor -- one criteria, whether a particular issue or relationship with a candidate
3. Ideology -- the overall coordination of a candidate
4. Authority/Liking -- an endorsement or recommendation of a candidate by an informative source

The authors are quick to point out that a voter's heuristic may change from election to election and candidate to candidate.

Nader Questions the Influence of Business on Government

In a recent interview given to truthout.org, Ralph Nader identified what is perhaps the most pressing problem Americans face, the influence of multi-national corporations on the U.S. government. His new book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, leads one to ask, what do we need to be saved from? Nader provides this thoughtful response:

[We need to be saved] from the concentrated power of multi national corporations over our government. It's a corporate state, almost clinically defined, and FDR warned against this in 1938. Any government that's taken over by private economic power -- he used the word -- he said that's fascism.

Nader went on to explain that both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of kowtowing to these business interests and that it is a significant impediment to effecting any substantive change. The entire interview is available here.

Updated July 29, 2020: The interview is now available here.

IRS To Conduct 6,000 Random Business Audits

The National Association for the Self Employed reports that the Internal Revenue Service will begin reviewing the tax records of 5,000-6,000 randomly chosen businesses beginning this November (2009). The program will be completed over the course of three years on both for profit and non-profit employers.

The NASE makes the following suggestions to make sure your company is ready:

• Since these audits will be unfolding over a three-year period and audits typically cover a period of three tax (calendar) years, initiating an internal review of employment taxes compliance now is the first step to consider.
• Identify an internal point person to manage the audit preparation process. Notices of audits can simply be addressed to the company at the address used for filing recent tax returns. If not directed to an informed contact person such notices may not be timely or completely responded to.
• Identify and budget for internal and other resources to gather, organize and analyze such records and provide appropriate representation.
• Engage experienced employment tax and audit experts before having an initial audit meeting with the IRS. Legal counsel should generally be able to provide assistance protected by the attorney-client privilege. Whether such expertise is engaged to either visibly represent the employer or simply to advise the employer in the background, it is important to engage these services early. Early involvement usually lends to a more efficient audit process.
• Do not rush into an audit schedule. Do not commit to a date before the adequate resources are in place and there has been an opportunity to gather, review and analyze all initially requested documents. It is important for the employer to have an overview of the company's strengths and weaknesses.
  

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Collection Available

Oliver Wendell Holmes served on the United States Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932. The quotable Holmes, perhaps best known for writing that the First Amendment would not protect a person from falsely yelling, "Fire!" in a crowded theater, was also a soldier in the Civil War, a Harvard Law School professor, and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The Harvard Law Library recently made much of Holmes's works and effects available on the web as part of its Digital Collection project. Many items of interest are now accessible by the public, including Holmes's own annotated copy of The Common Law, perhaps his most significant work. The Holmes collection can be accessed here.

Updated July 29, 2020: The collection can now be accessed here.

Nixon Library Expands, Moves Archives

The Nixon Library reports that due to an addition to the library's Yorba Linda, California campus, documents and audio-visual materials currently stored at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland will be moved to the library proper in 2010. Copies of all publicly-available audio tapes will be available at the library campus, the National Archives, and online.

Updated July 29, 2020.

Amazon Kindle 2

The second generation Kindle will ship at the end of February, 2009. From looking at the pictures released by Amazon, the Kindle 2 is not only thinner than the original (about the width of a #2 pencil), but it is sleeker. With rounded edges and better placement of page buttons, the device should store easier, without inadvertent page turns. Amazon is accepting pre-orders now.

We have the original Kindle, and it is an amazing device. The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times are delivered wirelessly each morning, and old issues are disposed of with the click of a button rather than a trip to the recycling container, making the Kindle as environmentally-friendly as possible. And there are so many free and inexpensive books available that it would take several lifetimes for the average reader to get through them all.

This is not a marketing blog and not designed to make a profit from affiliate links, but if you are considering an electronic reading device, the Kindle is worth your consideration.

Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

Indiana Court Takes on Prisoner Education Credit Time

In Stevens v. State of Indiana, No.90A05-0802-PC-90, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed time credit given to prisoners who earn a high school diploma while incarcerated. Stevens had completed a high school diploma through Continental Academy, and he applied for educational credit time with the Indiana Department of Corrections. The application was denied, and Stevens appealed to the trial court, which denied his petition for review without a hearing.

Significantly, there was no documentation submitted by either Stevens or the State that said why Stevens was denied credit time. The Court indicated that prisoners should be told why they were denied credit, and it remanded to the trial court for a finding as to whether Continental Academy "maintains standards of instruction substantially equivalent to those of public high schools" located in Indiana.
 
This is an important case because it protects prisoners from arbitrary denial of privileges granted to them by the state legislature. If the General Assembly has gone to the trouble of allowing a prisoner to earn credit time for achieving a high school diploma, an explanation of denial of credit must be given. Otherwise, the incentive to earn a diploma is erased, and it makes it too easy for corrections officials to deny this and other privileges without accountability.

George Will Gets One Right

In his September 23, 2008 Washington Post column, George Will rightly points out that the "bailout" goes against conservative principles. The Republicans, according to Will, are "conducting the most leftist administration in American history."

Neither of the old parties' Presidential candidates is ready to assume that office, he continues:

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

Heller's Rights Further Trampled

A machine gun, really?

The plaintiff in the recent D.C. handgun case before the Supreme Court, Dick Heller, reportedly has had his application for a handgun permit for his semi-automatic handgun rejected. The weapon has a bottom-loading magazine that holds seven rounds, and the D.C. police groups these types of weapons with machine guns, which are prohibited.

It sounds like the D.C. powers not only could use firearms training, but they also need to learn about firearms themselves and exactly how and why they are used for self-defense. In fact, it would be good policy for lawmakers to educate themselves about proposed legislation prior to enacting it in all cases. The people should not allow legislators to take rights away that the lawmakers do not fully understand. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also evil when it cripples a society designed to be free.