People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.
Samuel Johnson
Luxembourg Won the Reader Race Yesterday
I love numbers. So I'm fascinated by odd facts of my pageview statistics. For example, I've had an equal number of pageviews from China and Taiwan. In the BRIC race, readership is negligible, but to date it's China, Brazil, India and Russia. [I went to Brazil twice (São Paulo) for a few months of work in 1995; I talked about Feijoada Wednesdays and Saturdays, Churrascaria, and one of my favorite soft drinks, guaraná Antarctica. I've worked with more Brazilians than I've gotten pageviews...] But the overwhelming bulk of my international readers originate from Denmark, over 3 times as many as the runner-up, the UK, and South Korea is a distant third. So, my dear readers from Denmark, how are you going to respond to the gauntlet being thrown down by Luxembourg? Of course, the readership from my distant ancestral homeland of France is negligible; out of principle they are probably going to ignore me until I start writing posts in my first language.
Of course, I have my own issues reaching my American readers. I use terminology they've often never heard of being raised in an intolerant progressive education system: moral hazard, self-actualization, the law of unintended consequences, accountability, thriftiness, initiative, courage, hard work, civility, patience, discipline, responsibility, performance, perseverance and integrity. America deserves better than grandstanding, empty rhetoric, political spin, scapegoating and red meat or bumper sticker politics.
Obama's Procrustean Economy Policy: A Reflection
I remember when I was in sixth grade, one of my passions was reading Greek and Roman mythology. One of the archetypal legends involved Procrustes, the sadistic son of Poseidon. Procrustes had an iron bed in his guest quarters; if the visitor was too short, Procrustes would stretch him to fit the bed, but if the visitor was too tall, Procrustes would amputate the excess length from his limbs.
In short, I view Obama's policy as essentially Procrustean in nature, based on an ideological goal of equality in outcomes. Obama wants to stretch the outcomes of lower-income people, and he is willing to cut the disposable income of job creators and other economically successful individuals to do it. It may first seem that the analogy doesn't hold: after all, many lower-income people welcome the idea of getting something for nothing. Remember the infamous "Obama money" scramble in Detroit for stimulus handouts? (Let's us remind folks that the Obama mansion in Chicago is not located in the hood, and that $787B came from our grandchildren, not Obama's pocket.)
No, the point is more subtle. As faithful readers of my blog know, I love quotes. One of my favorite quotes is from the Roman poet Horace: "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant." For example, I have a brother-in-law whom has enjoyed a long career as an IT manager in the telecommunications industry. His position was eliminated a few months back in a corporate downsizing. I have no doubt he could make a good living by rejoining the corporate rat race or as a consultant, but he decided to try his hand as an entrepreneur. (He is selling premium Texas steaks at very competitive prices over the Internet.)
I have hung out my own shingle as an IT professional. Some people may think it's easy given the fact that I have a PhD and MBA or used to work for Oracle. But I never had industry contacts and the profession was notoriously anti-intellectual when the recession in the early 1990's ended my academic career. (For the first few years, I left the doctorate off the resume, and even over the past year I was advised by a professional recruiter to lose it from the end of my resume. Even the UH Alumni association has been sending me mail referencing my MBA degree. I was puzzled and asked them why they weren't referencing my capstone degree. She explained that most business school graduates prefer to promote their MBA.)
I had to deal with the prejudice against ivory-tower academics allegedly unable to cope with the reality of a practical world, recruiters whom worried that I would jump as soon the academic job market bounced back, and employers whom proudly refused to hire me into the mid-level professional ranks, boasting that they promoted from within, and that I would have to compete against my former students for entry-level positions. I've gotten my own gigs primarily from former clients whom chased me months after I left based on very limited-term engagements. One of my IT manager clients told me he learned more from me in 2 days than in 6 months of working with my former employer's other DBA's. Several managers claim I'm the best DBA they've ever worked with. I know of at least 2 projects where the prime contractor was in danger of losing the contract until I came on board mid-project and stabilized the situation.
Nobody, including my fellow conservatives, objects to emergency aid--for example, someone's house just burned down and they have limited savings. But I would rather see the Red Cross show up at the door than "heck of a job, Brownie". I personally think it's better to get a place of stay with a relative or a friend than the arbitrary assistance of a government bureaucrat deciding the nature and extent of what you're entitled to. Before social security, there was not an epidemic of senior citizens dying of hunger and homeless or with untreated medical issues. Parents often went to live with one of their children, and doctors donated or heavily discounted their services.
The issue for us is when temporary assistance turns into a long-term assertion of entitlement and the heavy damage is done by fostering an intrinsically corrupting nature of dependency on government goods and services. I won't go into specifics but there have been times in the past when I qualified for certain government programs and refused to apply out of principle. I don't have a "let them eat cake" philosophy. But over the years, I've had to make adjustments--I've made concessions on salary, location, hours, rate and/or benefits, I've done the road warrior gig working long hours, on holidays, nights, holidays and weekends (literally eating at a fast food place or diner at midnight) without a penny in overtime or bonuses, hour-plus commutes are more typical, and I've moved several times.
The point is, the government has to be very careful it does not foster a dependency trap. It's one thing to lend or give a man a fishing pole. But it's up to the man to find another pond or stream if it's been overfished, and he needs to learn from the example of master fisherman--their bait, their techniques and when or where you fish. I remember the last time I went fishing with my youngest brother several years ago near Panama City, FL. Neither my brother nor I are very experienced; we were on a fishing vessel with several other people, and I'll never forget this woman of color fishing next to us. My brother and I were pathetic compared to this lady; it seemed like she got bites of good-sized fish within seconds of casting her line time and again, while we struggled during the outing to land a handful of small fish. I never felt like I was entitled to a portion of her catch. I have no excuses--I was fishing from the same boat. At the same time, I don't have self-esteem issues over losing to an experienced female fisherman, any more than I would feel bad about getting a basketball shot blocked by a player a foot taller than me: I don't have unrealistic expectations over my performance. What I do know is that if my livelihood depended on catching fish, I would be willing to research and do whatever it took to attain the kind of expertise that woman had.
My, How Obama Has Grown Over the Past Year...
A year ago last month, Obama said the following to a Michigan crowd:
Now, my administration has a job to do, as well, and that job is to get this economy back on its feet. That's my job. And it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, ‘Well, this is Obama’s economy.’ That’s fine. Give it to me. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.So what did he say at a Senator Murray fundraiser this week?
Eighteen months ago I took office after nearly a decade of economic policies that had given us sluggish growth, sluggish job growth, falling incomes, falling wages and a record deficit.Well, let's look at the facts, Mr. Obama. The cut cuts of Reagan and Bush correlated with only two months of job losses from 1983 through mid-1990 and an unbroken string of job growth from September 2003 through the end of 2007, and one could argue that they inherited a much tougher hand than Obama: Volcker broke the back of inflation by raising interest rates--up to 20%. George W. Bush inherited a stock market cash, quickly followed by 9/11 and the financial scandals. So what exactly do you mean, Mr. Obama? In contrast, Clinton inherited a government emerging from a recession and the fiscal drag of the Cold War, and found his tax-and-spend agenda blocked by 6 of 8 years with a GOP-controlled House. The record deficit? First, it was a Democratic Congress which presided over the beginning of the recession in December 2007--and the entire duration to this day. Second, the Democrats, other than wanting to cut defense spending in the middle of two wars, mostly criticized the spending of Republicans as too little, not too much.
I will grant that I've been sharply critical of the Bush Administration's record on spending. But the audacity of someone whom is criticizing the deficits under Bush is incredible: in fact, the Dems refused to pass a budget for the 2009 fiscal year until after Bush left office, and we are seeing close to $2.7T addition of the national debt over the last 2 fiscal years inclusive, ending next month. That's better than half of the national debt that George Bush inherited.
Economists tell us it may take 6 months or longer for fiscal policies to show up in the economy: fine, Mr. Obama. You've had 19 months in office. You've come up with invented statistics like "saved jobs". You can't even spell the word "austerity". So of your words "My job is to get this economy back on its feet. That's my job....My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe." Don't tell me words don't matter. The fact is--you and your party don't have any clue on what to do with the economy other than to spend money that's not yours to spend, and despite your best efforts to throw money at the problem, it hasn't worked.
So here's a clue, Mr. President: you need a paradigm shift in your thinking. This cherrypicking approach of trying to reward politically favored businesses (e.g., green energy companies) and groups (police and teachers) isn't working; you have to work on simplifying your message and broaden your policy aims. You have to think from the perspective of a business in order to target jobs. What do businesses hate? Uncertainty. [Stick to a limited, focused agenda, and stop signing 2000-page bills into law.] Dubious spending policies that all but guarantee a raise in taxes. Globally uncompetitive tax rates. Next year tax hikes on income and investments. Increased payroll taxes or new benefit mandates effectively raising the costs of hiring workers. Aggressive attempts to unionize workers, which doesn't give management the flexibility it needs to meet the challenges of the global economy. Costly taxes, regulation, and reporting requirements. Government meddling in companies and industries. Protectionist trade policies.
Now addressing Mr. Cusak's point: "Congressional Republicans have not spent much time talking about how they would govern differently than Bush did". I really don't think that's true. Minority Leader John Boehner has signaled willingness to cut a deal on tough issues like social security and more openness for minority party rights in the House. The GOP has distanced itself from the economic interventionist and government growth policies of Bush and Obama. Whereas it would not be good political strategy to target austerity measures in advance of an election, it is clear that the GOP, which achieved a budget surplus a third of their years in power, has more credibility than the Dems, whom have achieved a budget surplus zero percent of the time over the past 40 years. The GOP is already talking about common-sense measures that Obama has failed to implement--like hiring freezes.
Political Humor
NASA made a big announcement at a press conference this week. They said that they've created a magnetic device that can levitate mice. Then NASA's spokesperson said, "If you don't let us go to Mars, this is the kind of stupid crap we're going to do." - Conan O'Brien
[Ladies who stand on chairs at the sight of mice: more evidence of your hard-earned tax dollars at work. No doubt Obama, sensitive to PETA concerns, decided to make putting mice on equal footing a top priority... Might I suggest the alternative of employing a journeyman magician whom can perform the same trick for a lot less money?]
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook
Nat King Cole*, "Nature Boy"
(* Annie Ross' interpretation is in my collection, but the song was first a major hit by Nat King Cole in 1948. I trust the reader will find this substitution worthy.)
