No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued,
when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd.
On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners,
they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.
Samuel Adams
Tweet of the Day
Kudos to John McCain for filing the Care Veterans Deserve Act, which seeks to expand veteran healthcare choices to the VA's bureaucracy.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Why do I not expect the left-fascist Dems to sign on? I can anticipate their ideological bullshit responses: it'll cut away VA resources.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The Dems will try to redefine the act as a crony giveaway to private healthcare providers leaving the VA left with the most expensive— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The Democrats' use of "choice", if not used to euphemize the unfettered legal right to kill preborn babies, is for government healthcare.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
What private healthcare system can compete against a government that annually runs hundreds of billions in the hole and a moneyprinting Fed?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Trump differs from the Dems in the sense he defines central planning hubris as the result of incompetent government he can fix.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Mises would have told Trump, "No, a merit-based government is not a solution to the intrinsic problems of a contrived market."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex Capitalism has done more to eradicate mass poverty than any other ideology in human history.Businesses make money by serving needs— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex Labor is a resource which must be well-managed to produce desired goods and services. Investments in human capital can pay off.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex When populist politicians restrict how businesses and workers voluntarily contract with each other, they limit the opportunities.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex If a young person is struggling to find his first job, and you tell a business, "You must pay the new worker double": no job offer— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex Unions take credit for policies that resulted from improvements in technology and market competition. https://t.co/zjlieKEPyS— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@Pontifex But make no mistake: unions are self-serving.They don't want competition from young or migrant workers.They restrict right to work— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@brandondarby What the hell is wrong with you anti-immigrants?As the Internet meme goes, you use the word liberty, don't know what it means.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Oh my God, Twitter is trending teacher themes. As a former professor and uncle to at least four educators, I have to watch what I tweet.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@AlexNowrasteh Inquiring minds want to know: did he make good on his promise to pay for your visit to the border?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
As a professor at state branch universities, I found many students ill-prepared for college work,poor study/work habits,poor writing skills.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
One particularly nasty school incident involved a nun/sister literally washing out my mouth with soap, for mouthing off to a student monitor— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I was watching the Hoover Institution two-part series on Charles Koch's new book; he was discussing setting up incentives for LT growth.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Colleges pay lip service to teaching effectiveness, but they don't really reward good teaching with tough standards.End-of-course evaluation— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
For my MIS students, there was no feedback loop on how my courses helped in subsequent courses or their careers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
At UTEP, 90% of the students in my DBMS class didn't know what a linked list was, & the prereq was a data structures course:popular teacher.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
No one knows how hard I worked on my teaching. Little positive feedback. But I didn't expect thanks: I was doing my job.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I had high standards. Not impossible for students: I'm talking about for myself. I wanted to be better than any professor I had ever had.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Those teaching evaluations are easily gamed. I still remember my cost accounting prof. Just before: "If you score a 95+ on the final: A."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I had to time my lecture after evaluation. A late student met me on the way in. I hear a coed tell him: You missed a shot to screw him over.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
No Hallmark card moment with ex-students. But you sometimes get unexpected feedback. This was while I was still a graduate fellow at UH.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
We had a research center. One day after a presentation, a young man made a beeline to talk to me. He was a former student in my DSS class.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
He was now with Accenture. He reminded me I had recommended in class considering a job with management consulting. He made a life decision.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I honestly didn't have a clue my word had made such an impact. Other anecdotal things: on my way out from UWM, a Wisconsin Bell exec called.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I think he was one of our new PhD students. He told me that he had heard some good things about my grad systems analysis course, wanted in.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
What do students say in their elective course comments? "His chalkboard behavior is so atrocious I can't endure it any longer,will explode."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Says the guy who will train 4 months to run a marathon: "Prof G sucks because if he was a good teacher, it wouldn't be so hard."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
My all-time favorite: "I learned more in Prof G's class than any course I've ever taken. But he deserves no credit. I did it all by myself."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
A personal pet peeve: what's with people going to a fitness club who want to park near the door? Are they conserving energy for a workout?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
When I went to my health club in SW Chicago, there was strip parking and plenty of parking in the back. But the road in was steeply uphill.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
So these people parking on the strip near the entrace would bottleneck traffic; if you're driving uphill with snow and ice, it's a pain.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Going back to academia: I may have tweeted in the past. I had to leave in a 90's recession. Colleges can be research or teaching focused.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I LOVED research AND teaching. I preferred a small Ohio college to UWM. But UWM had a grad/PhD program; I could teach grad classes, etc.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I was totally unprepared for the cutthroat politics at UWM; I never dreamed my department area chair would threaten tenure my first semester— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The last tweet involved an upcoming dissertation proposal which was poorly done.I had privately counseled my friend to withdraw his proposal— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The student refused. He was entering the academic job market & he wouldn't be taken seriously unless he was ABD.His chair was the area chair— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The chair was driving me back from a Wisconsin Bell dog-and-pony-show and made several explicit threats after paying lip service to critique— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I qualified for PhD faculty status my first year.(They later liberalized the status.) But I was internally blacklisted:no student committees— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I was a workaholic, putting in easily over 70 hours/week. Not to mention the time I had to spend finding new jobs over the last 3 years.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Around the time of the recession, I did a short in-person with a teaching school faculty member at a conference. He looks at my pub list.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
He says, "You know, I could have publications, too, if I cut corners at the expense of my students." ["Thank you, sir: May I have another?"]— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
The reason I had pubs is because I didn't have a social life. I all but lived on campus. I put in more work on my classes than anyone.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I was one of the guys fighting for the practitioners (IT managers) behind the scenes. I was regularly reading all the trade publications.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
At Illinois State (visiting appointment at a teaching school), I was talking about object-oriented programming, etc. One student says:— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
"I've been going to this school for 4 years. And Dr. G has been the only one talking about stuff the job interviewers are looking for."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I sometimes wonder what might have been if my career had started at a different, better school with people who wanted to do joint research.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I also wonder what it would have been like to chair my own dream department. The first guy I would recruit: Bruce Breeding. Officemate at UH— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Bruce and I would play racquetball, a way I could work off stress. I might be lucky and score a couple of points if he managed to trip.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Occasionally he would cancel, e.g., the day before a test or assignment: he would have a line of procrastinating students going down hall.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I would privately disagree with him: I didn't think it was a good thing to reinforce students waiting until the last minute to study.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Bruce is extremely bright and probably the most likeable fellow geek I've met. He had certifications than make today's look trivial: CPA.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
He went on to teach several years at Murray State. He left academia and never really talked about it. It's really funny: active in Scouts.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Bruce had met some of my nephews and their mom, one of my little sisters.(The five boys are all Eagle Scouts; I would joke about basketball)— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
(My oldest nephew responds, "Yeah, the world's shortest basketball team." My sister is about 4'10".) Bruce had moved back to Texas.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Bruce would never have made the connection; she is sweet and personable, and I'm "an acquired taste". Bruce today is a non-profit executive.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Bruce likes to discuss cognitive styles. We're different: he's very detail-oriented, perhaps not quite as creative or visionary.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
E.g., I am a creative writer (mostly unpublished). I would discuss writing a short story or poetry, and he would say, "How do you do that?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I wanted to do joint research with Bruce, but at the end, my academic career was failing and I was trying to survive. Not an ego thing.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
In fact, he would probably cope with academic political bullshit better, & he could be chair.I know the man, his values. Nobody I trust more— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Rasmussen (which RCP doesn't cover) just came out with a poll showing Trump and Clinton in a dead heat at about 39. About 16 is third party,— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
RCP in fact does list Trump 41 Clinton 39. This poll is a clear outlier, with the average showing Clinton with a 7-point lead.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
I'm the last person who would defend Hillary Clinton.But if the Hill is right about the 5 ways Trump intends to go after Clinton,I will help— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Let me clarify the last tweet: I will ally with (not endorse) Clinton against Trump if the Hill's anticipated attacks are correct.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Let me be clear. I'm pro-liberty. Anyone who opposes immigration or trade like Trump does is anti-liberty. I will fight him to the death.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@scottlincicome Oh, my God. He's coming after technology next.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
What Niemöller would say today: first, Trump went after the Mexicans, and I wasn't a Mexican; then he went after the Chinese; the women; the— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Once Trump understands that technology improvements allow manufacturers to produce more with fewer workers, he'll build a wall around USPTO— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
There are legitimate grounds to criticize Clinton: unfocused, counterproductive interventionist foreign policy; failed progressive policies.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
But Trump saying crap like Clinton wouldn't get 5% of the vote if she were a man: has he heard Cherokee Lizzie Warren give a speech?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
Now if Trump would have said that Clinton's political success is largely due to the fact she's married to the former POTUS, I would agree.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
But Hillary Clinton's positions aren't that much different from Obama, Kerry or Gore; oddly enough, she rejects Bill Clinton's policies.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@mviser Trump flipping condos in a Chinese real estate bubble. And mashed potatoes are big in China: https://t.co/cpkinrmh1J— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 2, 2016
@HeerJeet How does that Internet meme go? Trump uses the word 'conservative'; I do not think it means what he thinks it means.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@Trumpbart I think you are being unfair to stupid people. The term 'stupid' probably applies to people who vote for Hillary's donor over her— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@IcemanDaGenius @Trumpbart @Ahurastan Only Trump cultists can be this divorced from reality. Trump is a crony capitalist: corporate welfare.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@IcemanDaGenius @Trumpbart @Ahurastan Are you kidding me, retard? The son of a bitch supports ethanol mandates; gotten property tax breaks.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Okay, when a Trump cultist tries to debate former collegiate debate champion Ted Cruz, it's not going to end well: https://t.co/uA8Lcx5t74— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@oliverdarcy The GOP establishment thought they killed principled conservatism in 1964. But with Dole,Lott,Boehner coming out against Cruz?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@MarkSKrikorian The fascist Trump cultists just can't handle the truth, out of the mouths of babes.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
An example of how nominating Trump will cost the GOP the US Senate: https://t.co/4cy3svU9yA— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
@IcemanDaGenius @tress777 @Trumpbart @Ahurastan You are a liar."Trump made multiple statements in support of TARP, the bailout of the banks"— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Well, not good news on the RCP front. The latest shows Trump up 17 in Indiana, 34 in California, and CNN again shows 49% nationally.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
I don't want to get repetitive about the fact that Trump is a corrupt capitalist. He used tax breaks in NY and IL, he's used eminent domain.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Luigi Zingales had an interesting op-ed on crony capitalist Trump in the Gray Lady, seeing him in the mold of Italian Silvio Berlusconi.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
I have at least one beef in the Zingales piece: "Being pro-market means being in favor of competition and against excessive concentration."— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Re: "against excessive concentration". This is leftist distributionist claptrap. It is only government force that protects a large business.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
I won't repeat Bradley's discussion of fear of monopoly at Mises. In the long run, all businesses face competitive challenges.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
A good example of the government-protected monopoly of taxicab medallions. Ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft revolutionized markets.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
As Bradley notes, anti-monopoly laws are morally hazardous and rarely in the interests of consumers. How did Rockefeller hurt consumers?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
By dropping the price of kerosene by nearly 80%, Rockefeller improved the American standard of living. Oh, without competition, prices jump.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
The problem with the theory of manipulative pricing is the law of supply and demand, not to mention prices stoke demand for substitutes.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Improvements in production technology may offset economies of scale, not to mention reducing logistics costs. The free market is effective.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Remember when the Feds split up Ma Bell? By 2013 40% of American households were wireless only. Microsoft? A mature PC market, wireless OS?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
And this anti-WalMart prejudice by elitist snobs who are contemptuous of foreign-produced goods and demand lower-income people spend more.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Cruz faces an uphill battle to beat Trump in Indiana. It's just the law of numbers; I've only seen one recent poll showing Cruz in the lead.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
I have mixed feelings about Cruz. He's not that much an improvement over Trump on trade, immigration, and non-interventionist policy.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Cruz is much better on a number of issues and, unlike Trump, is highly intelligent, articulate, and principled; he is much more electable.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
However, I don't think that Cruz has ever overcome the nuclear heat caused by his quixotic game of political chicken over ObamaCare.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Cruz lacks the personal charisma, charm and humor that made principled Reagan electable and Goldwater not. You must have a positive agenda.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Cruz' prosecution of the cases against Trump and Clinton is absolutely spot on. The problem is that Trump turned the populist tables on him.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) May 3, 2016
Outrageous Public Executive Salaries
Cruz Schools a Trump Cultist
An Example of Things To Come For Republicans Under a Trump Ticket
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Glenn McCoy via Townhall |
Rod Stewart, "Twisting the Night Away"
