How to Fix the U.S. Economy? Stop Tinkering With It!

Richard W. Rahm's column in the Washington Times nails it. From creating too much easy credit to creating artificial scarcities of important commodities to over-regulation, government meddling gets it wrong all too often. It's a credit to American ingenuity and entrepreneurship that this country creates so many small businesses each year despite all of the obstacles that continue to be placed in the way.

Are there any candidates running from either major party who understand this? Doesn't seem that way, although McCain promised that he would work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Das Gesundheitssystem Nicht in Ordnung!! Entweder rein oder raus!!

Betsy Newmark summarizes a story about Hillary Clinton's most "notable" qualification for the Presidency, her leadership of the failed "health care task force" during the Bill Clinton's first term. Here's the money quote: So they had a plan that they weren't quite sure would actually work but they were contemplating making personal attacks on leaders of interest groups who dared to oppose them. And Jay Rockefeller knew exactly what the relationship was between the media and the Clinton administration. The media “are anxious and willing to receive guidance (from the Clinton administration) on how to time and shape the (news) coverage.”

As the man says, read the whole thing.

Schadenfreude at the expense of members of the Democrat party today. First we have former Senator and former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards issuing a lame explanation for an attempt to obtain a Playstation 3 from...Wal-Mart, bane of the left's existence.

Next we have Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi failing in her first effort to place her loyalists in key positions that will be controlled by the Democrat party. "The Democratic caucus voted 149-86 for Hoyer."

Perhaps the other members of her party believed Rep. Pelosi when she promised the "most ethical Congress in history." They knew, apparently better than she, that placing an unindicted co-conspirator from the ABSCAM scandal in the 1980's in the Majority Leader's chair was not consistent with that promise.

The post-election and Rumsfeld resignation aftershocks continue.

I am more concerned about the impact of Secretary Rumsfeld's departure on force morale and enlistment/reenlistment rates than on the possible political benefits during the just completed election cycle. Still, it appears that his departure was handled so badly that there is a distinct possibility of negative impact on both aspects of the issue.