If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Swiss bank accounts! Caymans corporations! Outsourcing! All these are, obviously, problems for Romney that, obviously, he should have fixed up before now in his 8-year campaign for the Presidency.
Or so one would be lead to believe by the punditocracy. If they are right -- if the average, uninformed, independent voter in America is easily convinced by some media heavy-breathing that the accoutrements of modern business are deeply un-American -- then the end is here.
At the very least, no one who has ever had a career in the productive sector should think of a second life of public service.
There's lots not to like about Mitt Romney, and I've done lots of publicly not liking it. But at least he spent some of his life creating wealth for his fellow citizens. (This is not a knock-down argument for his suitability as President, I'll agree, but that's not the point of this post.)
There's lots to like about rising-star Bobby Jindal (just to take a prominent example). But does anyone else have a concern that he seems to have only a few months of private-sector experience -- and that with McKinsey?
If the full range of political biography in US politics is to run from Barack Obama, star student, community organizer and elected politico to Bobby Jindal, star student, bureaucrat and elected politico, then why not just declare the one-party state now?
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May '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
"Conventional Wisdom" is not wise, or nearly as well-informed as it supposes.
But then again, it is very easy to parrot and fit in with the "In" crowd.
Sounds like Bill Krystal, maybe?
May '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
genferei
...If they are right -- if the average, uninformed, independent voter in America is easily convinced by some media heavy-breathing that the accouterments of modern business are deeply un-American -- then the end is here...
With more people receiving food stamps in the U.S. than live in Spain and the fastest growing industry is entitlements this is not hard to imagine.
Barack Obama is the same guy in 2012 he was in 2007-08. Absolutely consistent, and he was elected by a fair margin four years ago.
Jun '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
BrentB67
Barack Obama is the same guy in 2012 he was in 2007-08. Absolutely consistent, and he was elected by a fair margin four years ago. · 24 minutes ago
The difference is, more people know it now.
Oct '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Not so long ago (sub specie aeternitatis) it was possible to say that the chief business of the American people is business. Generations of a press and punditocracy radically unplugged from how the real, productive, world works would seem to indicate that this is no longer true.
So what can we do? Should every business-owner make it part of their social mission to explain how the world works to their employees? Or does that just invite the crony capitalists to entrench their worldview further: first you inherit a market, then you buy a congressman...
Oct '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
It would seem that Rob Portman has never been anything other than a lobbyist, civil servant or elected politician. Tim Pawlenty may have spent as many as four years outside the political world during his career.
And thus is the electorate faced with the choice between the party of government and the party of more government.
Nov '11
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
I completely agree. Except that I don't automatically have a problem with someone who was drawn to public service early in their career and has worked most of their life in government. If they are working for the right reasons and for the right causes, we are well served by their experience too.
Unless one is simply fabulously wealthy like Mitt Romney, it's difficult to build a national profile. But most fabulously wealthy people stick to making more money. They like what they are doing.
But without wealth, to build a name for yourself in politics, one has to start in that direction fairly early -- and thus more nationally known politicians with less experience outside government.
Apr '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
How ironic would it be if the birther movement backlash claimed mitt as a casualty.
Jun '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
As a major voting group, the worst judges of character are single women. It's bad enough that they're romantically attracted to moral defectives, but do they have to vote for them too? [he said as he walked into the giant spinning buzz saw]
Jul '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
I'm not sure who said it, but the quote goes something like this: "The decline of the American Republic can be traced to granting women the Franchise." *Shuts door on Bomb Shelter*
In all seriousness however, this problem gets back to the fact that significant portions of the population lack basic awareness about history (that's the realm of dead guys, not Brad Pitt who's oh-so-dreamy!) Economics, Mathematics and Common Sense - which isn't so common. When you examine a Bell Curve representing society, the first thing that you should realize is that 1/2 of the population is below average, and Lake Woebegone Syndrome aside - they act like it.
Jan '11
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Very solid post! When more people than not view activity that capitalism affords with disdain; we are toast. Like you, I wonder if this is future tense or has been upon us.
Feb '11
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Wouldn't it be good if the US had the kind of banking privacy Switzerland has had so that Americans wouldn't need to use Swiss bank accounts?
Wouldn't it be good if the US had the type of corporate tax code that the Cayman Islands had that Americans need not incorporate in the Caymans or other corporate tax havens to lower the tax bite?
Wouldn't it be good if the US had personal income taxes that did not tax you if you lived overseas?
Wouldn't it be good if the US didn't have such greedy politicians?
These are questions Mitt Romney should be asking those who wonder about Swiss bank accounts, Cayman corporations, and all the other tax avoidance issues.
Edited on July 16, 2012 at 11:47pmMay '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Are these the last rites before getting your virginity back?
May '12
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Majestyk
I'm not sure who said it, but the quote goes something like this: "The decline of the American Republic can be traced to granting women the Franchise." *Shuts door on Bomb Shelter*
In all seriousness however, this problem gets back to the fact that significant portions of the population lack basic awareness about history (that's the realm of dead guys, not Brad Pitt who's oh-so-dreamy!) Economics, Mathematics and Common Sense - which isn't so common. When you examine a Bell Curve representing society, the first thing that you should realize is that 1/2 of the population is below average, and Lake Woebegone Syndrome aside - they act like it. · 1 hour ago
I think you can attribute that quote or something very similar to the lovely and talented Ms. Ann Coulter.
Jun '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
BrentB67
Are these the last rites before getting your virginity back?
I'm a recent Catholic convert, and I'm single. That was back already.
It's just a good thing (thank God) that I didn't know (before converting) that loose single women just want a sugar daddy, like Barack, to pay for their birth control, and they're happy. How easy is that?
The Ladies Man
Edited on July 17, 2012 at 1:07amRe: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Mitt Romney has been a politician for nearly twenty years. He ran for the Senate in 1994. That he gave no thought in the interim to how Swiss bank accounts and money in the Caymans might be represented suggests folly on his part.
Outsourcing is, of course, another matter. It is an essential part of balancing a company's books, and it is easy to defend if one is forthright.
Swiss bank accounts are harder to explain. Instead of flailing at George Will and Bill Kristol, one should ponder our candidate's defects. This is not the last time that his partisans will have to vainly defend that which it is very hard to defend.
Apr '11
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Paul A. Rahe: Mitt Romney has been a politician for nearly twenty years. He ran for the Senate in 1994. That he gave no thought in the interim to how Swiss bank accounts and money in the Caymans might be represented suggests folly on his part.
Outsourcing is, of course, another matter. It is an essential part of balancing a company's books, and it is easy to defend if one is forthright.
Swiss bank accounts are harder to explain. Instead of flailing at George Will and Bill Kristol, one should ponder our candidate's defects. This is not the last time that his partisans will have to vainly defend that which it is very hard to defend. · 1 minute ago
If Romney loses, these things like Swiss bank accounts and elevators in his garage will have played a major part.
How on earth did we get to this point?
Jun '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
My guess is that there's a "bright lawyer" involved in recommending those options. Worst business case, you have a crooked partner, or a giant misunderstanding with the government, and your American assets get frozen. What do you do then? Sell your furniture? Have a yard sale?
Apr '11
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
Calvin Coolidge was a former Massachusetts governor (and was VP when he became president).
Herbert Hoover was a private-sector impresario, one of the few people who did build a national profile in that way.
I'm not impressed by the life in private sector vs. life in politics distinction.
Oct '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
@ProfRahe: Are you saying that there is no legitimate reason for an American to have a Swiss bank account, or that there is no hope of explaining those reasons to the public?
Oct '10
Re: If The Conventional Wisdom Is Right, America Is Lost
@JonathanLast: I'm not saying a life in the private sector is a pre-requisite to public office, but lamenting that it has become an absolute bar. When no-one in the public square has any experience other than managing and reporting on Government, we should not be surprised that Government becomes the answer to all questions.