Video of my appearance on Piers Morgan's Show on CNN last night

Real Clear Politics has this interesting section of the discussion here.  I hope that they don't mind me using their whole transcript here.

MORGAN: You just tried to make out, it's just an average old gun. He fired over 100 rounds and he killed 20 children. Twenty Children between five and 10. At what point do you gun lobby guys say, we get it? It's time for change? 
LOTT: Right, it is time. 
MORGAN: Time to do what? 
LOTT: To get rid of some of these gun laws that cause -- 
MORGAN: To get rid of the gun laws? 
LOTT: Look at what has happened, all these attacks this year have occurred where guns are banned. Look at the Aurora movie theater shooting. 
MORGAN: What the hell has that got to do with it? Seriously? What has that got to do with it? 
LOTT: You never let me explain. Can I say something? 
MORGAN: -- gun-free zone. 
LOTT: Look at the movie theater one, for example. There were seven movie theaters showing the movie "Batman" movie within a 20 minute drive of where the killer lived. Only one of those banned guns. He didn't go to the movie theater closest to his home. He didn't go to the movie theater with the largest screen. He went to the one movie theater that banned guns. 
Now if you look at bans generally, you can't point to a place, Chicago, D.C., where we ban guns -- murder rates and violent crimes went up afterwards. In the U.K. and Jamaica, Ireland, island nations that have banned guns -- you can't find a place where murder rates have actually gone down. They have gone up usually by large amounts.

Mediaite.com has a discussion on the segment of the show here.  Remember my last appearance with Piers Morgan available here.

Reminder about what has happened to murder rates in places that have banned guns.  Here is picture from Israel that might be useful.

John Fund has an interesting piece on public mass shootings here.

A reminder of the Worst Public School Attack

From Quartz.com:

In the end there were 38 children dead at the school, two teachers and four other adults. 

I’m not talking about the horrific shooting in Connecticut today. I’m talking about the worst school murder in American history. It took place in Michigan, in 1927. A school board official, enraged at a tax increase to fund school construction, quietly planted explosives in Bath Township Elementary. Then, the day he was finally ready, he set off an inferno. When crowds rushed in to rescue the children, he drove up his shrapnel-filled car and detonated it, too, killing more people, including himself. And then, something we’d find very strange happened. . . .

Michigan moves to end gun-free zones

The state legislature has passed this law and now it is up to the governor to sign it.  The long additional training requirements required to let people guns in these places as well as the ability of schools to still ban the carrying of guns mean that many places will still not be protected.  Still, it is a movement in the right direction.

LANSING, Mich. (Detroit Free Press) -- Changes to the concealed weapons law passed the state House Thursday evening, allowing highly trained gun owners to carry their weapons in formerly verboten places, like schools, day care centers, stadiums and churches.   

Schools, however, and privately owned facilities could opt out of the new law if they don't want people carrying guns in their buildings.   

The gun bill also requires the Michigan State Police, rather than local law enforcement, to maintain gun permitting records. Police said it was crucial to have at least one agency hold on to records, citing the I-96 shooter case last month, which was solved in part, by going back through gun records.   

State Rep. Joel Johnson, R-Clare, called the bill a "pro-public safety bill because it allowed gun owners to be an "asset" to public safety in volatile situations.   

But opponents, including state Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, said the bill went too far. . . .

Big push for gun control by Democrats

Under the "campaign" portion of the Daily Kos website you can find the above screen.

From Politico we get this story:

A member of the House Democratic leadership issued a forceful statement Saturday calling on Congress to vote on key gun-control laws  in light of the Connecticut elementary school shooting that left 20 children dead. 

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the outgoing chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said lawmakers should vote soon on banning assault weapons and high-capacity clips, closing terrorist watch list loopholes, and instituting background checks for gun sales. 

"To do nothing in the face of continuous assaults on our children is to be complicit in those assaults," Larson said in response to the shootings in his home state. "There may not be a single cure-all for the violence in our nation, however we must start the process and begin the deeper and longer conversations that need to take place.  Politics be damned." . . .

The Washington Post on Obama's "unbalanced" approach to the deficit

From the Washington Post:

Nudging the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, which President Obama supported last year? Unconscionable. Changing the way cost-of-living adjustments are calculated, which Mr. Obama also supported? Brutally unfair to veterans and seniors. Reform of Medicaidprovider taxes, which liberal Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) only days ago described as a “charade” used by states to jack up funding from Washington? Unthinkable, the White House now says:In fact, with the Supreme Court having struck down a facet of Mr. Obama’s Affordable Care Act involving Medicaid, nothing in that program can be touched. And, while they’re at it, put Social Security off the table, too. We’re asked to accept the mythology that, though the pension and disability program is facing ever-widening shortfalls, it isn’t contributing to the overall deficit. . . .

Rupert Murdoch calls for a ban on machine guns?: Does he even know what types of guns are being used in these attack?

A twitter post by Murdock on December 15, 2012:

Apparently he made a similar call in July after the Aurora attack.

We have to do something about gun controls. Police license okay for hunting rifle or pistol for anyone without crim or pscho record. No more.

It is very discouraging that Murdoch thinks that machine guns have anything to do with these attacks.  There are strong self-defense reasons for people to have semi-automatic weapons.

After the election Colorado Gov Hickenlooper changes position on gun control laws

I don't remember Hickenlooper ever even hinting about taking "a couple of months off" to think about gun laws previously.  One wonders whether this change in his position is simply because Democrats picked up control of the state legislature in November.  From the Denver Post:

In a significant shift from his statements earlier this year, Gov. John Hickenlooper now says "the time is right" for Colorado lawmakers to consider further gun restrictions. 

The Democratic governor made his comments in an interview with The Associated Press that comes less than half a year after the mass shooting in an Aurora movie theater that killed 12 and injured at least 58. His latest words also follow a shooting in an Oregon mall Tuesday that left three dead, including the gunman, who shot himself.  

"I wanted to have at least a couple of months off after the shooting in Aurora to let people process and grieve and get a little space, but ... I think, now ... the time is right," Hickenlooper said in the Wednesday interview. . . .

Depressing: Latest BLS JOLT data shows Hires and Quits still stuck below average during Recession

The latest BLS JOLT numbers came out yesterday and they remain depressing.  While the numbers had improved slightly from September, companies were still hiring fewer people in October than they were during the recession and of course a lot fewer than they were prior to the recession.  People are also still afraid of quitting their jobs at a lower rate than during the recession.

CNN's bias in interviews on Michigan's right-to-work debate?

The discussion below between a CNN host and Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa occurs about about 4:50 into the video.  At 25 seconds into the interview Hoffa uses inflammatory where he talks about a "Civil War," but the host doesn't call him on that.

Hoffa: . . . That said that places like Oklahoma with right-to-work would thrive.  When Oklahoma became right to work  If anything the wages went down in Oklahoma. 

CNN Host: Yah. 

Hoffa:  So it really doesn't work and that is just a spin from big business. 

CNN Host: No, no, I am just saying the fear.

Why would a CNN host have to agree so emphatically with Hoffa that right-to-work's benefits are just the spin of big business? In case the bias isn't obvious, here is an interview that CNN had with a supporter for right-to-work.



UPDATE: More on union threats:

"Just know one thing, Rick Snyder: You sign that bill, you won't get no rest.  We'll meet you on Geddes Road. We'll be at your daughter's soccer game. We'll visit you at your church. We'll be at your office."

UK has highest violent crime rate in EU, higher rate than US and even South Africa

From the UK Daily Mail in 2009:

Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it has been revealed.
Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa - widely considered one of the world's most dangerous countries.
The figures comes on the day new Home Secretary Alan Johnson makes his first major speech on crime, promising to be tough on loutish behaviour. . . .
The figures, compiled from reports released by the European Commission and United Nations, also show: 

• The UK has the second highest overall crime rate in the EU.

• It has a higher homicide rate than most of our western European neighbours, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

• The UK has the fifth highest robbery rate in the EU.

• It has the fourth highest burglary rate and the highest absolute number of burglaries in the EU, with double the number of offences than recorded in Germany and France. . . .

In the UK, there are 2,034 offences per 100,000 people, way ahead of second-placed Austria with a rate of 1,677. . . .

For a much more up to date and detailed discussion see this here.

With deadline fast approaching: "Only 15 States Opt to Run Obamacare Exchanges"

Even Democratically controlled states are apparently having a hard time agreeing to set up one of these Obama healthcare exchanges.

Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country. 

On the eve of a federal deadline for states to say whether they will run their own exchanges, a top health care policy official told lawmakers that the exchanges will start enrolling eligible families starting on Oct. 1. 

"I am confident that states and the federal government will be ready in 10 months, when consumers in all states can begin to apply," Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, told a House panel. . . . 

In written testimony, Cohen said that while 15 states have told the administration they will operate exchanges, 11 others have opted for versions that will require major involvement by the federal government. 

Experts say the number of states planning to operate their own exchanges could reach 18, plus the District of Columbia, by the time the deadline arrives Friday. . . .

Aetna CEO says some health insurance premiums will double because of Obamacare

So much for Obama's promises.  From Bloomberg News:

Health insurance premiums may as much as double for some small businesses and individual buyers in the U.S. when the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions start in 2014, Aetna Inc. (AET)’s chief executive officer said. 

While subsidies in the law will shield some people, other consumers who make too much for assistance are in for “premium rate shock,” Mark Bertolini, who runs the third-biggest U.S. health-insurance company, told analysts yesterday at a conference in New York. The prospect has spurred discussion of having Congress delay or phase in parts of the law, he said. 

“We’ve shared it all with the people in Washington and I think it’s a big concern,” the CEO said. “We’re going to see some markets go up as much as as 100 percent.” 

Bertolini’s prediction is at odds with Congressional Budget Office estimates . . . .

Comparing accidental gun deaths from TVs and Furniture and guns

As many children under ten die from accidental falling TVs and Furniture as from guns.

New numbers show a record number of people were killed by falling televisions, furniture, and appliances in 2011.
The report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows 41 people were killed in 2011, an increase from 31 in 2010, and 27 in 2009.
The data shows that the majority of those killed were under the age of nine. . . .

Thanks to Steve Brown for this link.

Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert removed from committees because they are troublesome characters?

This story has been doing real damage with some of the Republican base.  Assuming that it is true, it would have been good to have this type of information out sooner.

Back-bench freshmen Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are gaining martyr status among conservative activists after they were “purged” from House committees for what they say is a matter of sticking to their principles on tough votes. 

But some of their colleagues say the trio got yanked by the leadership-driven Republican Steering Committee because they’re jerks — or worse. . . . 

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a conservative who is close to party leaders, told them that the “asshole factor” came into play in the Steering decision. 

“He said that it had nothing to do with their voting record, a scorecard, or their actions across the street [meaning fundraising],” Westmoreland spokeswoman Leslie Shedd told POLITICO. “It had to do with their inability to work with other members, which some people might refer to as the asshole factor.” . . . 

"Gun Decision Was Product of University of Chicago"

Edward McClelland with NBC Chicago has this claim:

. . . It was a University of Chicago professor, John Lott, who wrote the book "More Guns, Less Crime," which helped build the intellectual argument for conceal carry laws. Lott’s book was published in 1998, the year Chicago surpassed New York as the city with the most murders in the United States.

The 7th Circuit’s opinion was written by Judge Richard Posner, who has been on the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School in 1969. It has been suggested that the U of C faculty’s conservative outlook has a basis in geography: Hyde Park is an embattled island of gentility surrounded by water on one side, and poverty on the other three. It was interesting that Posner’s example of a Chicagoan who needs a gun to protect himself is a resident of Park Tower, a Gold Coast condominium where units run between $1.1 million to $5.7 million. As Posner put it, “a Chicagoan is a good deal more likely to be attacked on a sidewalk in a rough neighborhood than in his apartment on the 35th floor of the Park Tower.” . . .

I don't think that Posner is any particular friend of gun ownership.  One only has to look at his reaction to the Supreme Court's decision after Heller.  For several years while I was a law and economics fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, I lived in faculty apartments at the corner of Singleside Ave and E 60th Street, about a block west of the law school.  At least at the time, if one went a block or so further south, it was not exactly a very safe neighborhood.  One of our family friends was attacked right outside our apartment building.  He was clubbed in the head as he was trying to run away from his attackers and he was suffered severe brain damage.  I can't speak for Dick Posner, but he also lived at the University and anyone living on the South side of Chicago has to be cognizant of the crime problem.

Posner’s opinion was also an attack on federalism -- normally a cherished conservative principle. He argues that since every other state allows conceal carry, Illinois has no grounds for denying it. Is there, in the Constitution, a provision that automatically makes a law apply to every state once a certain number of states have adopted it? . . . .

Does McClelland think that the state of Illinois could ban publication of the Chicago Tribune or Sun-Times?  The 14th Amendment to the Constitution contains what is known as the incorporation clause, which applies the Bill of Rights to the states.  The idea of constitutional protections was that a majority of voters can't deny Americans certain rights.  McClelland doesn't seem to understand that defending constitutional protections is not inconsistent with being conservative.

There is a unique characteristic of criminal activity in Illinois: We have the city with the most murders in the United States. Murders are up over 25 percent this year. We surpassed the 2011 total on Oct. 29. That guns are responsible for this would be evident to anyone with an awareness of the streets of Chicago. But maybe not to someone whose Chicago is confined to the U of C Law Library.

McClelland ignores the ability of people to also use guns to protect themselves.  My research shows that poor blacks who live in high crime areas such as the South side of Chicago are the very people who benefit the most from having guns to protect themselves.

Here are some recent crime reports from an area one block from where we lived.  I would guess that the  University of Chicago has cleaned up the area a little since I lived there.  Click on the picture to make it larger.

Here are the crimes from a block going south down to Drexel.

Obama setting up phone banks to put pressure on Republican Congressmen to vote for higher tax rates

You can click on any of these screen shots to make them larger.  Hopefully, the Republicans will discount some of the telephone calls that they will be receiving.

Sen. Robert Menendez Scandal: AP reports that Illegal Immigrant, registered sex offender's arrest delayed until after the election

From the Associated Press:

Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned. The Homeland Security Department instructed federal agents not to arrest him until after Election Day, a U.S. official involved in the case told the AP. . . . 

Authorities in Hudson County notified ICE agents in early October that they suspected Sanchez was an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender and who may be eligible to be deported. ICE agents in New Jersey notified superiors at the Homeland Security Department because they considered it a potentially high profile arrest, and DHS instructed them not to arrest Sanchez until after the November election, one U.S. official told the AP. ICE officials complained that the delay was inappropriate, but DHS directed them several times not to act, the official said. . . .

"AutoZone employee and Air Force vet praised for bravery by sheriff"

The serial robber stopped by this employee had apparently robbed more than 30 stores.  The gun was stored in McClean's car and he only retrieved it once the attack commenced.  The incident occurred on November 30th.  From the UK Daily Mail:

An AutoZone employee and Air Force veteran who daringly thwarted an armed robbery at his Virginia store by using his own handgun at the scene has been fired for breaking company protocol. 

Devin McClean, 23, who worked at the York County store up until about a week ago, says he managed to slip out during the attack, grab his glock .40 handgun from his car and return - frightening away the bandit. 

'When I yelled “freeze” and I said “stop, drop the weapon,” he threw his hands up with his gun still in his hand, he started running,' Mr McClean told WTKR. . . . 

'He was like, "Thank you Devin, you really saved my life,' Mr McLean recalled of his manager. . . . 

'I thought, what a shame. This guy has really gone above and beyond,' Sheriff JD Diggs told WTKRof AutoZone's decision. 'I mean, what else could you ask an employee to do for you?' . . .

Another shooting in a gun-free zone: Shopping mall near Portland, Ore

Lars Larson, the radio talk show host who lives in Portland and who I have known for many years, and Brent Busch, who I don't really know, have informed me that the mall where the attack occurred took place in a mall that had posted signs banning concealed handguns.  Here is the statement that I received from Brent.

Here is a discussion of another mall that was posted as a gun-free zone in Salt Lake City.  Of course, the 2007 Omaha, Nebraska mall was also a gun-free zone (I wrote about it at the time here).

Wealth per country and per person

Source: The Economist

Some background on other Concealed Carry Cases Around the country

After the 7th Circuit Court decision, here are some other recent cases.

Interesting oral arguments in Edward Peruta, et al. v. County of San Diego, et al., No. 10-56971
The various filings in the case are available here.
The McKay (Orange County) case documents are available here.
The Jackson (San Francisco) case documents are available here.

More Democratic Senators come out against Obamacare's medical device tax

Former Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced he had made a mistake in support Obamacare because of this tax.  Now others have joined the chorus.

. . . The previously obscure tax has, over the last several months, emerged as one of the most controversial in the health care overhaul and one of the few with bipartisan opposition. Starting Jan. 1, the Affordable Care Act imposes a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices with the goal of raising nearly $30 billion over the next decade.  

But a group of U.S. senators this week revived concerns that the tax could hurt one of the few U.S. industries "that enjoys a net trade surplus."  

"The medical technology industry directly employs over 400,000 people in the United States and is responsible for a total of 2 million high-skilled manufacturing jobs," Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and North Carolina Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan wrote in a letter with 16 other senators and senators-elect Monday to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "In an environment focused on increasing exports, promoting small businesses and growing high-tech manufacturing jobs for the future, we must do all we can to ensure that our country maintains its global leadership position in the medical technology industry and keeps good jobs here at home."  

The lawmakers urged Reid to support a delay in implementation, warning of the business consequences. . . . .

UPDATE: Even more names appear:

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

Kay Hagan (D-N.C.)

Al Franken (D-Minn.)

Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)

Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)

John Kerry (D-Mass.)

Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

Robert Casey (D-Pa.)

Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)

Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)

Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.)

Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)

Good Democrat Firm Google Uses Shell Company in Bermuda to dodge $2 billion in taxes

From USA Today:

By funneling nearly $10 billion in revenue into a Bermuda shell company last year, Google dodged about $2 billion in income taxes worldwide, Bloomberg News reports, citing financial records. 

The off-shore tax shelter — legal in the United States and elsewhere — cut Google's tax rate nearly in half, Bloomberg says. Bermuda has no corporate income tax. Bloomberg says the amount saved was about 80% of the company's pre-tax profit. . . .

Scalia point on moral values and laws against homosexual marriage

If I had to guess, I believe that the Supreme Court will say that there is no rational basis for opposing homosexual marriage.  Here is Scalia's take on the issue:

"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?" Scalia said, according to The Associated Press.  

The justice's comments are sure to draw attention with the Supreme Court set to enter the debate over gay marriage in its coming term.  

Scalia was asked about controversial comments he had made in the past that argued that the constitutionality of subjects like the death penalty, abortion or sodomy laws were all "easy" to decide by considering the Constitution as understood by its writers. . . .

I am not sure that is the best argument.  Murder by definition hurts someone else.  It isn't obvious that the same claim can be made of homosexual marriage, but some comparisons might be possible.  For example, some might believe that children raised with two parents of the same sex will not turn out as well as those raised in families with opposite parents.  Whether that argument is right isn't as important as whether it is reasonable for them to believe that relationship exists.  

Possibly laws on drugs that people take might be a better analogy.  People voluntarily take drugs, though the government believes that it has the responsibility to protect them from themselves.  

Election results send small business owners into deep funk

From the Washington Post:

The National Federation of Independent Business said its index of small-business optimism dropped 5.6 points last month to 87.5. The index was compiled from a survey of 733 NFIB members taken throughout November. . . .NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg said the biggest drag on the index was owners’ expectation that business conditions will be worse six months from now. The number of owners expecting better times ahead fell 37 points. Nearly half the owners surveyed are now pessimistic about the future. . . .Dunkelberg said the survey points to the election results as the biggest factor in owners’ darker mood.

Another Obama tax that people might not have known about

So you want to cover the insurance costs of people who don't have insurance?  The obvious solution is to tax insurance right?  Forcing more people off insurance will surely lower the cost of covering people who don't have insurance, right?

Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Obama's health care overhaul.  

The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.  

"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.  

Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee. 

The Obama administration says it is a temporary assessment levied for three years starting in 2014, designed to raise $25 billion. It starts at $63 and then declines.  . . .

More evidence that taxes affect behavior

Higher taxes actually alter people's behavior?  Is that really possible?  Here is something to remember the next time the Congressional Budget Office or the White House assumes that tax increases won't alter people's behavior.  From Bloomberg News:

More than 150 companies, from Costco Wholesale Corp. to Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), have declared special dividends totaling about $20 billion this quarter to avoid anticipated tax increases in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Others, including law and private-equity firms, probably will pay bonuses, partnership distributions and commissions early for tax reasons, according to Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. 

“We’re going to have a big jump in household income in the fourth quarter” said Crandall, whose company is a subsidiary of ICAP Plc, the world’s largest broker of transactions between banks. “It’s going to be in excess of $50 billion.” 

Much of that will go to upper-income Americans, the very people Obama has targeted to pay higher taxes, including Las Vegas Sands controlling shareholder and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson. 

Of the $123.6 billion in qualified dividends reported to the government for 2009, about 52 percent was received by those making more than $250,000 for the year, according to the latest data available from the Internal Revenue Service. . . . .

Now Intel is considering increasing its dividend payment.

Can government ever divorce politics from its actions?: Requests to cut off aid to Michigan over Right-to-Work law

This is part of a series of similar comments that I should keep track of.  Here is what Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer has been suggesting:

“If this works out the way the Democrats would hope, here’s the scenario: Governor, if you sign the legislation, kiss that money goodbye. And if you nix it and veto it, well, guess what? We’ll open up the wallets and get you the money,” [WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick] told CBS Detroit [when he described Whitmer's argument]. “Some people might call that blackmail. In politics we call it taking advantage of a situation.” 

Detroit-based WJR host Frank Beckmann condemned Whitmer’s remarks, calling her plan “outrageous.” 

“This should immediately disqualify her for any consideration to run for governor,” Beckmann said on the air. “Taking the interests of the entire state of Michigan, the entire region of Detroit, holding them hostage because you object to legislation that has passed in 23 other states and has caused great economic growth?” . . .

Obama interjects himself into the debate.

“I’ve just got to say this,” Obama said at the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Michigan before a small crowd of workers. “What we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. We shouldn’t be doing that. 

“You know, these so-called right-to-work laws, they don’t have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics,” Obama added to applause and cheers from the crowd. “What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.” . . . 

"Paul Krugman riles fellow pundits"

From Politico:

New York Times economics columnist Paul Krugman seems to be testing the patience of a couple of his fellow pundits on ABC's "This Week." 

Conservative commentator George Will and former White House aide Mary Matalin both directed pointed remarks at Krugman Sunday that broke with the good-natured banter common among the guests on Sunday political talk shows. 

After Krugman called House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget a "fake document" and the columnist said he was "amazed that people haven't gotten that," Will unsheathed his verbal sword and went at Krugman. 

"I have yet to encounter someone who disagrees with you who you don't think is a knave, or corrupt, or a corrupt knave," Will said, borrowing a phrase founding father Alexander Hamilton used to rail against those unwilling to respect the good faith of their political opponents. 

"No, I've got some people," Krugman said, suggesting that some conservatives are indeed intellectually honest. 

"Specifics have indeed been offered," Will insisted, referring to Republican budget plans.
That face-off followed a couple of prickly interactions between Matalin and Krugman earlier in the program. . . .