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The navy: The spirit of 1812

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:41 +0000

The blasted British

FEW Americans remember the War of 1812, and if they do they are likely to forget that it marked the coming of age of their navy. “The Star-Spangled Banner”, written by an amateur poet on the back of an envelope during its battle of Baltimore, makes a bigger impression these days. But it was the heroic performance of America’s frigates against the world’s most powerful fleet that saved the young republic from possible extinction, despite the burning of the White House by the British in 1814.Two centuries on, the navy is hoping to reclaim the memory of its greatest glory, and to polish its own reputation in the process. While the war (which lasted till 1815) may not feature prominently in a potted history of America, the service sees the conflict as a reminder of its enduring importance. It has spent some $12m on a three-year-long bicentennial celebration, to promote stirring events and exhibitions across the country.It was, however, an awkward war—fought against Britain and various Indian tribes, and with no clear winner. But its timing does look handy for today’s...

The navy: The spirit of 1812

The Texas Senate race: Another insurgency

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:41 +0000

AS A former solicitor-general of Texas, Ted Cruz earned his spurs in classic fashion. In 2007 he went to the Supreme Court to argue that the state was within its rights to execute a man who had raped and murdered two teenage girls, even if the offender in question was a Mexican national—and won. That decision, Medellin v Texas, was seen as a rebuke to the federal government, the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and, indeed, the validity of international law.So now that Mr Cruz is running for the Senate, love is in the air. The National Review, a conservative magazine, popped him on the cover months ago; the Texas Observer, a long-suffering liberal magazine, warned that he could be the next Ronald Reagan. On May 7th he picked up endorsements from Rand Paul, a tea-party darling, and his Texan father, Ron Paul. Several days later, Sarah Palin offered hers. The only odd thing is that Mr Cruz is not, as it happens, winning the race.The seat is being vacated by Texas’s senior senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison. She is retiring, but unlike Indiana’s Dick Lugar, who on May 8th lost his primary to a tea-party backed insurgent, she is doing so voluntarily. Although Ms Hutchison lost a 2010 bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination to Rick Perry, she would probably have won had she stood again....

The Texas Senate race: Another insurgency

Lexington: Peter David

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

BY TRADITION, departing Lexington columnists write a valedictory reflecting on the state of the nation. Had Peter David come to pen his parting thoughts, he might well have reflected on American exceptionalism. Sadly, this column must now celebrate his own.To begin with there was his range. From leaders to book reviews, Peter spread himself thick. He joined The Economist in 1984 to write about science, then became a specialist writer on the Middle East, ran the paper’s business sections, turned Bagehot columnist as political editor, took over as foreign editor (“the job I’m told I’ve always wanted”) and in 2009 moved to Washington, DC. He wrote special reports on everything from Islam to international banking.Some great journalists venture boldly into war zones. Peter did that occasionally, but his forte was to stride fearlessly across minefields of ideas. Politicians who dabbled in demagoguery—a shameless attempt by William Hague, then Britain’s opposition leader, to exploit the killing of an intruder, or Newt Gingrich’s bluster over plans for a mosque near the site of the twin towers in...

Lexington: Peter David

Wisconsin’s recall vote: Cheesed off

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

Getting 900,000 signatures was the easy part

SOME call it a civil war. Others say that the debate over the future of Wisconsin’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, is now so rancorous that neighbours, families, and co-workers are refusing to discuss the subject. The only thing that everyone agrees on in Wisconsin is that they will be glad when the recall election is over on June 5th.Governor Walker was elected at the mid-term election of November 2010, one of a new crop of Republican governors pledging to trim state spending and take on the public-sector unions. He promised to balance Wisconsin’s $3.7 billion budget deficit, create 250,000 jobs and reduce the size of government.Shortly after assuming office, however, he caused outrage when he announced he would strip public-sector unions of most of their collective-bargaining rights—so that it would be much harder for them to haggle over benefits or working conditions. The unions said his proposals were designed to cripple them, rather than simply to save money. Barack Obama agreed.The proposals caused weeks of hiatus last year as...

Wisconsin’s recall vote: Cheesed off

Financing football stadiums: Bread, circuses and leather balls

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

A Hail Mary pass?

THE Falcons, Atlanta’s professional football team, have played their home games at the Georgia Dome, America’s largest indoor sports arena, since 1992. It cost $214m to build and another $55m to renovate. In those 20 seasons they have an overall losing record, including seven losses and four wins in the playoffs, and no Super Bowl titles. Attendance has been respectable, but below capacity—perhaps because fans dislike the prospect of watching a football game indoors on a beautiful autumn day. That said, many may also dislike the prospect of watching a football game in the rain, or on a sweltering day in early autumn. The Georgia Dome also hosts non-football events, such as basketball games and trade shows, that require an enclosed space.The Falcons and the GWCC have hit upon a solution: a new stadium with a retractable roof, more seats and a larger share of premium seats. The cost, according to the study’s “conservative estimate”, is a cool $947.7m, $300m of which would be paid for with taxpayer money.Should that plan be approved, Atlanta would get off comparatively...

Financing football stadiums: Bread, circuses and leather balls

California’s overcrowded prisons: The challenges of “realignment”

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

JERRY BROWN can point to only one clear policy achievement since he became governor of California again last year. It has nothing to do with California’s ongoing fiscal crisis, which Mr Brown has so far failed to solve: this week he announced that a budget deficit he had previously estimated at $9 billion has swelled to almost $16 billion. Instead, it concerns the equally pressing disaster in the state’s prisons. Mr Brown’s sweeping reform, if it goes as planned, might alleviate this crisis and become a model for other states. But it is risky.Excessive incarceration is an American problem. The country has about 5% of the world’s population but almost 25% of its prisoners, with the world’s largest number of inmates and highest per capita rate of incarceration. California eagerly participated in this trend of locking up ever more people. During Mr Brown’s previous stint as governor in the 1970s the state switched to more inflexible sentencing. It then spent another two decades adding “tough-on-crime” laws that kept extending sentences even for minor crimes.The resulting prison-building boom, and rapacious...

California’s overcrowded prisons: The challenges of “realignment”

The Federal Election Commission: Testy gridlock

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

IN A nondescript building next to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Washington, a group of lawyers gathers every fortnight to bicker in public. The six members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which drafts and enforces regulations on political donations, seem to have nothing but contempt for one another. As the amount of money sloshing around in American politics has grown ever bigger (see chart) and partisan competition ever more intense, the agency charged with keeping electioneering above board is ever more riven by division.In part that is by design. Republicans and Democrats each nominate three commissioners, but four votes are needed to adopt new rules, start investigations and impose penalties. It is impossible, in other words, to get anything done without an element of bipartisanship. Past commissions were able to find some common ground, says Bob Biersack, a former FEC staffer now at the Centre for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group; the present lot seem hopelessly split.The courts have on several occasions told the FEC that it is too lax. Most recently, one threw out its rules governing the...

The Federal Election Commission: Testy gridlock

Philanthropy: Spreading gospels of wealth

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

EVEN more private jets than usual landed at Santa Barbara airport on May 9th, as some 35 billionaires and a score or so of spouses flew in for a behind-closed-doors meeting in the luxurious Bacara resort. They included Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, America’s two richest men; Melinda Gates, Ted Turner and Steve and Jean Case, as well as youngsters such as Elon Musk, a founder of PayPal, Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay both in their 40s. Their mission: to help each other become better philanthropists.This was the second meeting, after last year’s in Tucson, Arizona, to be held under the auspices of the Giving Pledge, launched by Mr Buffett and the Gateses in June 2010 to encourage America’s billionaires to make a public promise to give away at least half of their wealth. So far 81 people have signed the pledge, a total which has surprised Messrs Buffett and Gates, given all the reasons that might have been found not to do so. The signatories range in age from 27 to 96; one of the youngest, Mark Zuckerberg, was a no-show in Santa Barbara, instead touting the initial public offering of the firm he co-founded, Facebook, which is expected to earn him around $30 billion and thus at least half that for good causes.The Santa Barbara gathering was evidence of a rapid evolution of the Giving Pledge from a collection of individual promises into a movement focused on collectively...

Philanthropy: Spreading gospels of wealth

County jails: Worst case

The Economist: United States — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:05:40 +0000

No cup

SHOUTING echoes through the dungeon-like rows of cells as Sergeant George Hosac and your correspondent walk through the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Most inmates are in their underwear, many tattooed. Some stare, others sneer. The “southsiders”, as Hispanics are known inside jail, are largely separated from the blacks and whites, though not officially so, since that would be illegal. Mr Hosac banters with a few inmates, but warns under his breath that “some save a cup of faeces and throw it.”The building is the most notorious part of the Los Angeles County jail system, the largest in America. After a series of inmate-on-inmate killings, a special counsel called it “nightmarish”. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has two lawsuits pending against it, one for overcrowding, the other alleging deputy-on-inmate violence. And the FBI is investigating allegations that guards not only abused inmates but formed their own gangs. Lee Baca, the sheriff, is fighting to reassert control and has said he might even close the jail down. It certainly does not appear ready to...

County jails: Worst case

Florida’s governor: Not just business as usual

The Economist: United States — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:06:15 +0000

Not so easy

AMONG the most enduring American political ideas is the notion that government can and should be run like a business. Candidates who have succeeded in the corporate world, the theory goes, can bring their no-nonsense, job-creating wisdom to politics. Rick Scott, who made an enormous amount of money running hospitals and as a venture capitalist, ran for governor of Florida on just such a boast. In 2010 he spent more than $70m of his own money on his campaign, boasting of his business acumen while deriding his opponents as insiders and “career politicians”.In that strongly anti-incumbent year, his strategy worked. He managed narrow primary and general-election victories against uninspiring opponents. Even so, he has never been particularly well liked: he entered office with a 33% approval rating, which dipped last December to 26% before rising, by April, to 34%, making him one of America’s least popular governors.That is not wholly surprising, if not exactly fair. Mr Scott campaigned on his ability to create jobs, and although Florida’s unemployment rate has fallen sharply...

Florida’s governor: Not just business as usual