The Des Moines Register's Jason Clayworth and Jason Noble report that Iowa House Democrats "have moved to an undisclosed location":

Iowa House Democrats this morning left the Capitol in protest of two gun bills the Republican majority had planned to debate today.

First it was Texas Dems in 2003, then Wisconsin and Indiana Dems in 2011, now it's the Iowa Dems' turn in 2012. And of course we have Democrats in the US Senate not proposing a budget for almost three years.

What an amazing leadership class the Democrats are blessed with.

The Wall Street Journal remembers "The $18 billion tax gift Obama didn't mention."

Shhhh, don't tell anyone...

Feb. 29 ...

In 1860 Herman Hollerith, the inventor of the first electric tabulating machine, was born in Buffalo, NY. His company was one of four that merged to form Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation, which was later renamed IBM. In 1892 St. Petersburg, FL, was incorporated. In 1904 big-band jazz legend Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, PA. In 1940 actor Hattie McDaniel became the first black person to win an Oscar, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. In 1972 Hank Aaron became the first Major League Baseball player to sign a $200,000 contract. In 1984 Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced he would retire as soon as the Liberals elected another leader. In 1988 South African archbishop Desmond Tutu was arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town. In 1996 Faucett Airlines flight 251 crashed in the Andes Mountains while on approach to Rodriguez Ballon Airport in Arequipa, Peru, killing more than 120 people. In 2004 Hatian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was removed from office after a coup.

Joel Kotkin and Shashi Parulekar argue in City Journal: "The decline of the English-speaking world has been greatly exaggerated."

February 28 ...

In 1827 the first US railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, was incorporated. In 1844 a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer, and several others. In 1849 the ship California arrived at San Francisco, carrying the first of the gold-seekers. In 1861 the Territory of Colorado was organized. In 1881 Thomas Edison hired Samuel Insull as his private secretary. In 1901 scientist Linus Pauling was born in Portland, OR. In 1951 the Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver (D-TN) issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime syndicates were operating in the US. In 1953 scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes. In 1974 the US and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a seven-year break. In 1986 Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm. In 1993 a gun battle erupted at a compound near Waco, TX, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians, a group of religious extremists; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.

American Enterprise Institute scholar Kenneth P. Green:

While government has a legitimate and valuable role in basic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research, it is a lousy venture capitalist and is largely incapable of picking winning technologies in the market.
...

Government, like a really bad surgeon, sings the praises of patients it heals and buries those it mangles, quietly when it can, and loudly blaming others when it can't. As Frederic Bastiat explained some 150 years ago, economic actions have both seen and unseen consequences. Fans of industrial policy are keen to point out the seen, and never countenance the unseen waste and opportunity costs.

200 years ago on this date in 1812, in his first address as a member of the House of Lords, the poet Lord Byron defended Luddite destruction of textile machines in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

Also on this date, 90 years ago in 1922, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution guarantying the right of women to vote.

40 years ago on this date in 1972, the Shanghai Communique, pledging that it was in the interest of all nations for the United States and China to work towards the normalization of their relations, was issued by US President Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China.

February 27 ...

In 1801 the city of Washington, DC, was placed under congressional jurisdiction. In 1807 poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, ME. In 1812 in his first address as a member of the House of Lords, the poet Lord Byron defended Luddite destruction of textile machines in his home county of Nottinghamshire. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech at Cooper Union in New York City. In 1883 Oscar Hammerstein I, grandfather of composer Oscar Hammerstein II, patented the first cigar-rolling machine. In 1902 American author John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, CA. In 1922 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution guarantying the right of women to vote. In 1923 the great jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was born in Los Angeles, CA. In 1933 Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, caught fire. The Nazis, blaming communists, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties. In 1951 the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified. In 1960 the US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, CA. (The US team went on to win the gold medal.) In 1972 the Shanghai Communique, pledging that it was in the interest of all nations for the United States and China to work towards the normalization of their relations, was issued by US President Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China. In 1973 the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee in South Dakota. In 1974 People magazine was first issued by Time-Life (later known as Time-Warner). In 1979 Jane M. Byrne confounded Chicago's Democratic political machine, upsetting Mayor Michael Bilandic to win their party's mayoral primary. (Byrne went on to win in the general election.) In 1985 former ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, who had served three terms as a US senator, and ran as the 1960 Republican vice-presidential nominee, died in Beverly, MA, at age 82. In 1986 the US Senate approved telecasts of its debates on a trial basis. In 1991 President George H.W. Bush declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.

John Stossel:

Here's some of what one has to do [in order to open a lemonade stand in New York City]:

-- Register as sole proprietor with the County Clerk's Office (must be done in person)

-- Apply to the IRS for an Employer Identification Number.

-- Complete 15-hr Food Protection Course!

-- After the course, register for an exam that takes 1 hour. You must score 70 percent to pass. (Sample question: "What toxins are associated with the puffer fish?") If you pass, allow three to five weeks for delivery of Food Protection Certificate.

-- Register for sales tax Certificate of Authority

-- Apply for a Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit. Must bring copies of the previous documents and completed forms to the Consumer Affairs Licensing Center.

Then, at least 21 days before opening your establishment, you must
arrange for an inspection with the Health Department's Bureau of Food Safety and Community Sanitation. It takes about three weeks to get your appointment. If you pass, you can set up a business once you:

-- Buy a portable fire extinguisher from a company certified by the New York Fire Department and set up a contract for waste disposal.

-- We couldn't finish the process. Had we been able to schedule our health inspection and open my stand legally, it would have taken us 65 days.

February 26 ...

In 1802 poet, novelist, and playwright Victor Hugo was born in Besancon, France. In 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Island of Elba to begin his second conquest of France. In 1848 the Second French Republic was proclaimed. In 1907 the US Congress raised its own pay to $7500. In 1916 Mutual Films signed Charlie Chaplin to a film contract for $10,000 per week, plus a $150,000 signing bonus. In 1919 Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. In 1929 President Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park. In 1940 the United States Air Defense Command was created. In 1945 a midnight curfew on nightclubs, bars, and other places of entertainment was set to go into effect across the nation. In 1952 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that his nation has an atomic bomb. In 1970 National Public Radio was founded. In 1993 a bomb built by Islamic terrorists exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. In 1995 Barings PLC collapsed after a securities dealer lost more than $1.4 billion by gambling on Tokyo stock prices. The company was Britain's oldest investment banking firm.

Eight of the nine films nominated for the best picture Oscar have received or will be in line to receive some form of government subsidy -- five from state governments and four from other countries.

Stateline.org's Will Wilson, writing in the Miami Herald:

Almost all of the films nominated for best picture in Sunday's Academy Awards received or may receive some government financial assistance, either from a state or from a country overseas.

-"The Artist": Did not receive film incentives.

-"The Descendants": Received incentives from Hawaii, which does not disclose amounts for individual films.

-"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close": Received incentives from New York, which does not disclose amounts for individual films.

-"The Help": Received a spending rebate of $3,547,780 from Mississippi.

-"Hugo": Received tax credits to film overseas.

-"Midnight in Paris": Received tax credits to film overseas.

-"Moneyball": Eligible to receive as much as $5.8 million in tax credits from California, pending certification.

-"The Tree of Life": Received $434,253 in incentives from Texas.

-"War Horse": Received tax credits to film overseas.

Reason magazine's Jacob Sullum:

Distorting the economy is not, as NPR suggests, an unwanted side effect of Obama's proposals; it is his avowed aim, because he thinks he knows how resources should be distributed better than the market does. As long as we have leaders with this kind of overblown faith in their own knowledge, wisdom, and competence, we will have "a tax system that's a complex, inefficient, and loophole-riddled mess."

February 25 ...

In 1570 Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I. In 1793 the department heads of the US government met with President George Washington at his home for the first Cabinet meeting on record. In 1841 impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France. In 1901 US Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan. In 1913 the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect. In 1943 US troops reoccupied the Kasserine Pass. In 1948 Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia. In 1956 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow. In 1964 Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, FL. In 1986 President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency. In 1996 a 12-mile tether connecting a half-ton satellite to the space shuttle Columbia broke loose as it was almost completely unreeled.

The search for the Obama Administration's new 2012 campaign slogan may be over.