The Swiss finance minister Hans-Rudolf Merz lost his composure in the Swiss parliament earlier today and broke out in uncontrollable laughter. Merz was reading out a memorandum concerning foreign cured meat imports to Switzerland that was prepared for him by the Swiss customs office. The text, redolent with legalese, Merz acknowledged at the end of his speech, was incomprehensible. Unfortunately, there is no indication that the Swiss agricultural protectionism will be reformed as a result of this episode.

Venezuelans go to the polls on Sunday for a legislative election that will test the extent to which democracy still exists in their country. It’ll be the 13th election since Hugo Chávez became president in 1998 (these include constitutional referenda, gubernatorial, legislative and presidential elections, as well as a recall vote).

Some would say that all these elections prove that Venezuela is a true democracy. I would argue that democracy means more than simply voting. It involves separation of powers, constitutional checks and balances, and freedom of the press. None of these exists in Venezuela anymore.

Even the electoral process is deeply flawed. Just as in previous elections, nobody expects the vote on Sunday to be fair: Independent international observers have again been barred from entering Venezuela. Most of the media are owned by the government, and the remaining private outlets must submit to the constant cadenas (presidential addresses) that the government requires private TV and radio stations to air. From 1998 to September 19th, broadcasters aired 2,072 cadenas for a total of 1,430 hours of transmission (almost two months of 24-hour broadcast).

Moreover, prominent opposition figures have been disqualified from running due to technicalities and dirty tricks. Others have been imprisoned or have fled the country. The electoral body is controlled by the Executive and the voters’ registry has not been independently audited in the recent past. It contains such anomalies as 32,000 people older than 100 years, persons registered multiple times, and 2,000 voters that share the same address.

Despite this daunting scenario, the opposition stands a good chance of making significant gains in the National Assembly. However, it remains to be seen if Chávez will allow even a modest voice of dissent in a country where he has long exerted total control over all government institutions. There will be a three-month period between the legislative election and the installment of the new National Assembly. It wouldn’t be a surprise if, after Sunday’s vote, Chávez moves to curtail the powers of Congress, just as he did with the powers of governors and the mayor of Caracas after the gubernatorial elections of 2008.

In the Kentucky Senate race between Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Jack Conway, new revelations have appeared about the financing of the campaigns. Apparently something called “outside groups” — it’s not clear whether they are from outside Kentucky or outside the parties — have been spending money.

Listen to what one group is doing: “Groups that want lower taxes and less federal regulation are helping Paul … [and] pushing a message that federal spending and the size of government must be reined in.”

Shocking no? You have not heard the worst.

In Kentucky, “The health care law has been a key difference in the Senate race, with Conway supporting it and Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, strongly opposing it. Supporters say the law will bring insurance coverage for millions more Americans, but opponents have argued, among other things, that it will add costs to businesses.” And both supporters and opponents have the gaul to spend lots of money pushing their point of view!

For Paul, new troubles have appeared. A shadowy corporation has funded attack ads directed at the Republican, see here, here, and here. The corporation in question has not disclosed the source of its funding for the ads to the Federal Election Commission. It is possible that the money for the ads came from commercial transactions and thus has no relationship to the relative strength of public opinion in Kentucky. Prior to Citizens United such spending by corporations was illegal, right? It will be a great day for democracy when shadowy corporations like this one can no longer fund attack ads directed at American voters.

Except…

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Two of Minnesota’s biggest health plans said Thursday they have temporarily suspended sales of individual health insurance policies because of uncertainty related to the new federal health reform law.

The moves by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and HealthPartners came on the same day some of the federal government’s most-heralded consumer protections came into effect…

The insurers that have suspended individual sales say they are awaiting guidance on new rules, including those around coverage of kids with pre-existing conditions…

Pam Lux, a spokeswoman for Eagan-based Blue Cross, said she expects the suspension of individual sales to be brief but could not say if it would be days or weeks.

Yesterday, Chester Finn and Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute offered some less-than-sage education advice to majority-hungry congressional Republicans. They implored them not to “reflexively revert to weary old themes that emphasize states’ rights, local control, and parental choice—and tell Uncle Sam to basically butt out.” In other words, they strongly advise ignoring (1) the Constitution, (2) decades of failed federal education efforts, and (3) the inherent hopelessness of government monopolies. 

Just in case some in the GOP are inclined to take these very ill-considered suggestions, perhaps a few reminders are in order.

First, the Constitution gives the federal government no authority to interfere in education other than to prohibit discriminatory state or district provision of schooling. I direct both the GOP and Messrs. Finn and Petrilli to Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution so that they can see firsthand that among the federal government’s specific, enumerated powers there is nothing about education. That means that the feds must “butt out.” And please, don’t cry “general welfare clause” — it just explains why the specific powers are given and confers no power itself.

Next, remember that the federal government has been heavily involved in elementary and secondary education since 1965. And what have we gotten for it? This:

Of course, as Finn and Petrilli point out, districts and states bear a lot of responsibility for our dismal otucomes, too. But why does that mean we should hand Washington more power? Given that all levels of government have failed, it seems the problem isn’t district or state government, but government itself! That’s right: A government schooling monopoly tends to be controlled by the people employed by it – the people who have the greatest incentive to be involved in education politics and the easiest ability to organize — and what they naturally want is more money and little or no accountability.

So government control of education at any level is the problem. Which means that educational freedom — taking power away from government and returning it to parents — is probably the solution.

But wait, say Finn and Petrilli, we like choice, but “there isn’t nearly enough of it” and “a lot of parents…make mediocre education choices and then stubbornly persist with them.” Of course, one reason there isn’t nearly enough choice is that rather than fighting for it, far too many people waste precious time and money tinkering with a socialist system that cannot be fixed. Moreover, because we are dealing with a government monopoly, there are very few choices out there, and those that exist don’t have to be all that great to furnish something better than the alternative. Create a free market in education, however, and you’d get competition, which would spur innovation, which would lead to ever-improving options for everyone! It would essentially take education from a “very nice” gulag to an iPod world.

So please, GOP, I beg you: Don’t listen to Finn and Petrilli. Stick with those “weary old themes,” and absolutely do tell Uncle Sam to butt out.

An interesting update on the politics of ObamaCare appears in CongressDailyPM (subscription required):

The marking of six months since the signing of the healthcare law should be a moment of celebration by Democrats, especially as several popular provisions go into effect today. But the political realities of the midterm elections have made trumpeting the law, which remains unpopular with large swaths of the electorate, a delicate balancing act for Democrats…

House leaders tell their members to address the healthcare law in a way that best suits their districts…

some Democratic members in the House and Senate instruct staff not to write talking points on the law’s six-month provisions…

a former administration official questions if Democrats’ efforts to sell the bill are making any significant headway…

It’s little wonder, really.

But still. Wow.

Having inherited an 8 percent budget deficit from the previous socialist government, the new conservative-liberal government of Slovakia has come up with a novel way of keeping budget deficits under control in the future. Starting in 2011, salaries of government ministers will rise and fall depending on the evolution of the fiscus. Thus, a budget deficit of 5 percent will translate to a 10 percent decrease in salaries, while an (unlikely) budget surplus of 5 percent will translate into a 10 percent rise in salaries, etc. It will be interesting to see if this new measure will truly result in a more responsible fiscal policy in the years to come.

Incidentally, had the United States adopted a similar measure, President Obama’s reported salary of $400,000 in 2009 would have fallen to $320,000 in 2010.