Calling all Senate Democrats

.... it's time to do your jobs. It is now 749 days and counting since the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a budget.

Romney doesn't know anything about economics

Maybe that is an exaggeration, but here is my point. Conventional wisdom says that because Mitt Romney was a successful business man, that he is also a great candidate when it comes to economic issues.

Really? I'm sorry, but understanding economics and being able to manage a business are two very different things. The economy doesn't run like a business. And anyone who thinks that it can be managed like a corporation is terribly misguided.

Back in 2008, I recall that Romney was clamoring for a "stimulus!" and was mocking McCain for his proposal to cut government spending as a way to forestall the recession. And of course, you don't need to look much further than his awful health care plan for more evidence of his economic ignorance.

So this line of thinking that says "yes, I know Romney is a flip-flopper who reverses himself on issues like abortion, immigration, campaign finance, etc...but that's okay because he's great on the economy!" needs to end now.

Romney is the quintessential "pro-business" candidate. What we need is someone who is "pro-market" and understands the limitations on the role of government, both practically and constitutionally.

Romney nomination would be as if the tea party never happened and would reverse all of the progress of the last 24 months.

That is why lately I have been leaning in this direction.

Book: Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids

I recently finished the book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids by George Mason economist and Econlog blogger Bryan Caplan, and it is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the topic of parenting or grandparenting.

Here is the book summary:

We've needlessly turned parenting into an unpleasant chore. Parents invest more time and money in their kids than ever, but the shocking lesson of twin and adoption research is that upbringing is much less important than genetics in the long run. These revelations have surprising implications for how we parent and how we spend time with our kids. The big lesson: Mold your kids less and enjoy your life more. Your kids will still turn out fine.

The book also presents this theory that most of us "overcharge" ourselves for the cost of having a child, because we overestimate the impact we have on our children in the long run. In other words, the costs of having a child are really less than we think they are.

He's not saying that everyone must have a kid, or that if you are happy with 1 or 2, that you have to have 2 or 3. He is simply presenting a point of view, one that may convince someone who is on fence to go ahead and have another child.

Yesterday, Caplan appeared on the Dylan Ratigan show. Link to video here.

T.G.I.Fla.

A week of Florida headlines:

MONDAY, MAY 2

Wearing Only a Smile, Nudists Seek out the Young and the Naked
Loxahatchee Groves, Fla.

TUESDAY, MAY 3

Nothing to see here. Move along. (Why oh why did I promise a week's worth of headlines?). I'll make it up to you later, promise.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

Cops: Fighting woman hid knives and drugs in her private parts and fatty skin folds
Fort Myers, FL

THURSDAY, MAY 5

Here we take a break from the kookiness to remember that Florida has its share of wonderful stories, too:

Toddler ready to go after having seven transplanted organs at Jackson Memorial.
Miami, FL

FRIDAY, MAY 6

From the sublime back to the ridiculous

Bicycling Flower Thieves Hit Orlando Florida
Orlando, FL


BONUS ROUND: the best of April

Police arrest man accused of urinating on cough drops at Walgreens
Sanford, FL

BONUS ROUND: the best of All Time

This apparently happened in March, but I just heard about it today.

Herman Cain vs. Bill Clinton

Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, made quite a debut last night as a candidate for President of the United States. I am not jumping on any bandwagon - I am particularly concerned about his apparent enthusiasm for the TARP bailout back in 2008. He seems to be trying to ride the tea party wave, but since the tea party was in large part a protest against bank bailouts, this makes little sense.

But what is worth watching is the video below from a 1994 Health Care Town Hall with Bill Clinton. Cain, speaking as the CEO of Godfather's Pizza, takes on Clinton and destroys any possibility of the Clinton health care law being enacted into law in a matter of about 6 minutes.

Early on in the discussion, Cain asks Clinton: "If I am forced to do this, what will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate."

Clinton then responds by trying to convince Cain that the costs will really not be as high as he says, and then suggests that Cain would be able to pass the cost on to his customers. After all, all of his competitors would be in the same boat. And to this comment, Cain's response is simply devastating:

In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn't work that way, because the larger competitors have more staying power before they go bankrupt, then the smaller competitor.

This is a fantastic insight. Regulations do impose costs on large corporations, but they often have a disproportionately larger impact on smaller businesses. In other words, regulations build a competitive "moat" for the larger players by making it more difficult and more costly for the smaller competitors to compete.