Daniel Larison is skeptical that there’s a political constituency for repealing Obamacare. He argues that “discontent with the bill will come later as all of its measures take effect after the repeal strategy has been tried and found electorally lacking.” That doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying, though—not least because the Left views this monstrous bill as merely a first step towards still more federal involvement in health care. Sen. Jim DeMint’s short-and-sweet bill is a step in the right direction.

Steven Spruiell offers a three-step guide to socializing an industry: 1) the government subsidizes private firms; 2) the government creates a “public option” to “compete” with the private firms that have grown fat on subsidies; 3) the government federalizes the whole industry on the grounds that the “public option” is cheaper and doesn’t funnel money to private firms. Solution: don’t subsidize industries in the first place.

Apropos of nationalizing firms, Rep. Barney Frank worries that investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might not be terribly sound. Good thing the federal government “invested” so much money on behalf of taxpayers over the past year!

While we’re on the subject of bad ideas, FEMA’s director has proposed federal disaster insurance as an alternative to federal bailouts for those who suffer a catastrophe. Of course, like federal flood insurance, such a policy effectively rewards those who choose to live in high-risk areas. Furthermore, disaster relief isn’t necessarily a federal responsibility at all, as President Calvin Coolidge argued after the 1927 Mississippi floods.

And last but not least, Armor Games offers an addictive distraction from this week’s gloomy politics (via Jonah Goldberg), and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is raising money for an education center.

Kevin Gentry of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation was kind enough to include my take on the role of online fundraising in his “Fundraising Tip of the Week” e-mail:

Direct mail and new media are complementary and reinforce one another.  Even with the best online fundraising campaign, you’d still be leaving money on the table without an offline component, just as with the best direct mail campaign you’d be forgoing funds without an online effort.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the New York State Assembly, argue in today’s New York Times that the World Trade Center “redevelopment process was always intended to be a public-private collaboration.” They urge the Port Authority, the public agency that owns the site, to further assist with the project’s finances. Another government agency, the joint city-state Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, is also involved in the redevelopment.

Aside from mere symbolism, however, why should taxpayer money be spent to plan and construct a private office building that fairly clearly nobody wants to build? After all, if there were really demand for a 100-story skyscraper, then private financing would be forthcoming.

• Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) takes an unpopular yet important stand against deficit spending. Will his colleagues stand with him?
• Not only is the winning design for the new U.S. embassy in London embassy horribly ugly, but so are all the runners-up. Why do so many architects think their buildings have to eschew traditional design conventions to be any good?
• Simon Heffer offers some unkind words about the man who could be Britain’s next prime minister (maybe). “Cameron shifts easily on such issues because he has very few principles, other than his belief in himself as prime minister. If it is feasible one day to reward marriage through the tax system, he will do so. If it is not, he won’t really care less. Such is the mindset of the former public relations man, whose elastic intellect can be placed on whatever side of whatever argument.”
• And last but not least, Wired’s article about Google’s algorithm provides not only a fascinating look at search technology but an interesting case study of an organization that consistently innovates.

• Secretary of Defense Gates criticizes European governments for failing to provide adequately for their own defense. But it’s little wonder that they don’t manage these things themselves when the United States has for so long offered a security guarantee.
• There’s a major flaw in carbon-trading schemes, Jeremy Warner argues: no wealth is actually being created by these trades. “Unlike traditional commodities markets, which will eventually involve delivery to someone in physical form, the carbon market is based on lack of delivery of an invisible substance to no-one.”
• The Obama administration has devised a new way to save money: stop subsidizing banks that offer student loans. Fair enough. The New York Times reports, however, that the government intends to continue funneling taxpayer money to schools and students and spend the “savings” from the subsidies elsewhere: “the savings would be used to aid early-childhood education, community colleges and needy college students.” Another way to save taxpayers money would be to, you know, not spend it.
• An Ohio clergyman suggests that lawmakers shouldn’t live in housing affiliated with religious organizations. Why? The Washington Post says “he called it a matter of church-and-state separation, with this a potential example of undue church influence on government through members of Congress.” Of course, the First Amendment was crafted to keep government out of religion — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” – not to keep religion out of government.
• And last but not least, George Will offers his entertaining take on the state of the world at CPAC: