Quotes

"Fascism and communism both promise "social welfare," "social justice," and "fairness" to justify authoritarian means and extensive arbitrary and discretionary governmental powers." - F. A. Hayek"

"Life is a Bungling process and in no way educational." in James M. Cain

Jean Giraudoux who first said, “Only the mediocre are always at their best.”

If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law. Sir Winston Churchill

"summum ius summa iniuria" ("More laws, more injustice.") Cicero

As Christopher Hitchens once put it, “The essence of tyranny is not iron law; it is capricious law.”

"Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

"Law is where you buy it." Raymond Chandler

"Why did God make so many damn fools and Democrats?" Clarence Day

"If I feel like feeding squirrels to the nuts, this is the place for it." - Cluny Brown

"Oh, pshaw! When yu' can't have what you choose, yu' just choose what you have." Owen Wister "The Virginian"

Oscar Wilde said about the death scene in Little Nell, you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

Thomas More's definition of government as "a conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of a commonwealth.” ~ Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English Speaking Peoples

“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” ~ Jonathon Swift

Monday, January 31, 2011

Obama and his administration are clueless: Innovation doesn't emanate from government; it begins with productive individuals matched with capital

What President Obama Missed In His State Of The Union - Forbes.com

... the president uniquely presented an overall strategy for the country, not unlike a SWOT strategy (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) used in corporate planning. More the strategy was intertwined in a vision for the U.S.--a vision of leadership through innovation. As I've argued in my recent book The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, to reassert America's economic leadership in the world Washington must place innovation at the center of U.S. domestic policy.

Which is why it was odd to hear the president refer to today's "Sputnik moment" and call for increased government funding of research and technology initiatives. It's almost as if nothing has happened innovation-wise between 1969 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and Tuesday's speech.

... But it's not so much the label that should bother businesses, but rather the choose-a-winner assumption behind the president's innovation agenda. At the beginning of his speech the president rightly noted that "none of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be, or where the new jobs will come from." This is precisely why the government shouldn't be deciding which industry or company to reward with taxpayer dollars.

[read article at the above link]

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