links for 2011-01-30

Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled.

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And, Tunisia and Turkey

The Working Group on Egypt , which includes Michele Dunne, Robert Kagan, Elliott Abrams and Ellen Bork as well Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch and Brian Katulis of the Center for American Progress, has put out a statement with some smart advice for Obama to pursue the following goals:

a call for free and fair elections for president and for parliament to be held as soon as possible.

amend the Egyptian Constitution to allow opposition candidates to register to run for the presidency.

immediately lift the state of emergency, release political prisoners, and allow for freedom of media and assembly

allow domestic election monitors to operate throughout the country, without fear of arrest or violence.

immediately invite international monitors to enter the country and monitor the process leading to elections, reporting on the government's compliance with these measures to the international community

publicly declare that Mr. Mubarak will agree not to run for re-election.

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Yes

The Bee's editorial praised legislation by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner aimed at ending the so-called never-ending sales tax holiday granted to out-of-state Internet merchants.

The editorial cites an out-dated Board of Equalization analysis suggesting that the legislation might bring $150 million into state coffers. For perspective, compare this number to the estimated $42.2 billion in sales and use taxes Californians paid last year or the $25.4 billion deficit the state is currently facing.

One small problem: California isn't likely to see any of those $150 million. Instead Skinner's bill would cost jobs, hurt government revenue and drag taxpayers into costly litigation.

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Absolutely true.

The Amazon tax would contribute little to California's economy except grief.