Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Liberty Quote of the Day
It seems that as a general rule, then, the weaker the government, the better it is for innovation.
Joel Mokyr
[Note: some of my supplemental (edited) quotes come from other sources identified in the links, e.g., the always wonderful Club Hayek (see my blog roll link).]
No Wonder They Call It the Dismal Science....
The New (Lack of ) Class Warfare
My mom was a housewife until my baby sister was in school; 3 of my 4 sisters were full-time housewives until their youngest children were at least in primary school. One of those sisters was an experienced RN, and another was a credentialed teacher. A fourth sister, a CPA, chose to continue working after starting her family. My two sisters-in-law also were full-time housewives and transitioned back into the workforce.
Since I've never been married or had kids of my own, I haven't faced the decision of a household trade-off between a full-time parent at home and a full second income; from my perspective, my wife's working full-time would not have been an issue--we would have been able to work with whatever decision she made. As far as I'm concerned, my parents and siblings have done wonderful jobs raising great kids. What I don't accept, however, is any type of condescending attitude towards full-time mothers from working women, professional or otherwise.
As much as the Dems/progressives have sought to create an imaginary "war on women", it turns around that some women (i.e., working women) are more equal than others--and it's not just Ms. Rosen, but Obama as well. It's not so much what he said but how he said it (in the clip below): "Once I was in the state legislature, I was teaching, I was practicing law, I'd be traveling,. And we didn't have the luxury for her not to work." Obama's children were born following the launch of his political career.
I do not know the Obamas' compensation or what unpaid school loan balances were (they had been out of law school for several years) And I am empathetic to the trade-offs between work and family life that Obama describes: many people go through the same. But let's be frank: we are talking about two Ivy League/Harvard Law graduates. Either of them could have easily attracted six-figure offers from major legal firms or corporations. So it's really disingenuous to compare their circumstances with everyday Americans. It could very well be the case that Obama didn't make much income during his public advocacy tenure--but that's a decision he made.
What strikes me about the comment is how utterly clueless it is--it's one of those San Francisco "can't understand how Midwesterners vote against their own best interest and cling to their guns and Bibles" moments. My mom, the oldest of my sisters, and one of my sisters in law were in single-income households where the breadwinner was earning an enlisted man's pay; I seem to recall Dad took on a second job during the early years. They know children are gifts from God, and they decided to make whatever sacrifices it took to raise their children with a full-time parent at home. I'm not making any value judgment on how the Obamas have decided to raise their two daughters; from what I can tell, they seem to be well-adjusted, nice, bright young ladies.
Maybe I'm reading a little too much into this, but when Obama said that, the very first thing I thought is, "Obama is referencing Mitt Romney's wife Ann, whom has been a full-time housewife." This is hardly unreasonable given the way the Dems have sought to make Romney's relatively low tax bracket for mostly investment income, his cars, and other property a major issue.
But what really set things off was when Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen on a cable show made this comment: "Guess what, [Romney's] wife has actually never worked a day in her life." [This seems to be in reference to Romney's statements he listens to his wife's inputs on economic issues, and Rosen was being dismissive of Romney's input from women.] Ann Romney promptly tweeted back: "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."
The following comments came from a Fox News interview:
"Look, I know what it's like to struggle. Maybe I haven't struggled as much financially as much as some people have,” said Ann Romney, who has battled breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. “I can tell you and promise you that I have had struggles in my life.”
I have high respect for Ann Romney, whom is a blessing and will make a wonderful First Lady. Mitt Romney married well; he's a lucky man.
In fairness, I should report that the White House has distanced itself from Rosen's comments, and Rosen has reportedly apologized for them. But you cannot put the genie back in the bottle. We feel what Rosen said reflects the real feelings not only of herself but what many, if not most people in the Obama Administration feel about traditional families and institutions.
The One Thing I'm Sure Of :
When Government Sets a Price,
It's Almost Certainly the Wrong Price
Mark J. Perry of Carpe Diem has an interesting post today on three stories involving prices and competition: there's antitrust action against Apple and multiple major publishers allegedly conspiring in anti-competitive activities to put a floor on e-book prices. However, in two other cases, supermarket Safeway is being sued by other gas retailers for selling gas unfairly low (proper disclosure: I often shop at a local Safeway and have redeemed gas discounts on dozens of occasions), and a Nashville area floor on limo costs of $45 to or from the airport. The latter was a typical Big Limo collusive act with local government to lockout newcomers wanting to charge $25.
You see, low prices are "good" when other e-book retailers want to undercut market leader Apple's prices, but they're "bad" when other businesses think the target retailers are trying to take business from them.
We've seen this game before--remember stock transaction costs before reform? Today you can trade stocks for $5-10 a transaction. It used to cost several times that. There are lots of points to be made here, but suppose for instance a vendor devises a process that allows them to lower prices by half and still make a profit. Price floors keep the vendor from capturing the market with market-leading cost containment. Price caps are no better, e.g., when market prices exceed price cap.
As for anti-trust action, booksellers are aware of the law of supply and demand; e-book versions also compete against relevant hardcover/softcover/audio versions in price; we don't micromanage the pricing of original volumes. Publishers can decide whether or not to offer e-book versions; they can choose to market directly at their own pricing or bypass Apple for alternative e-book retailers willing to accept variable pricing arrangements. As usual, government anti-trust actions are misguided and counterproductive: the e-book market is booming, not contracting, without Big Nanny's micromanagement.
Stop the madness: government needs to get out of the price-fixing business.
Oops! Rick Santelli Did It Again!
Why I LOVE Rick Santelli Rants...
Political Humor
"The average wedding now costs $27,000. Well, no wonder Newt Gingrich is broke. He's constantly shelling out all that money." - Jay Leno
[I thought he was going to say: only Mitt Romney can afford to have multiple wives...]
"Gingrich is $5 million in debt. And he's the guy who was going to fix our economy." - David Letterman
[Obama is $5 trillion in debt. And he's the guy who was going to fix our economy.]
"Newt Gingrich's campaign paid $500 to get his name on the Utah primary ballot, and the check bounced. You know, if Newt is spending money he doesn't have, maybe he really is qualified to be president." - Jay Leno
[Uh-oh. The next time Gingrich shops at any Tiffany's in Utah, they won't take his checks.... But at least his credit score isn't minus 5T.]
"The price of gasoline has now doubled under President Obama's administration. He and Jimmy Carter are the only presidents ever to have had that happen. But in fairness, at least under President Obama we don't have to listen to disco." - Jimmy Fallon
[In unrelated news, President Obama once again claimed credit for saving the auto industry....
....But in fairness, at least under President Carter we didn't have to listen to his public audition to become a member of The Beatles....
]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Doobie Brothers, "Minute By Minute"
