Lotsa luck, fellas. Whatever this means for the presidential race in 2012, the first thing you've got to do is avoid falling into a $3-trillion black hole. State pension liabilities are now $5.3 trillion, against assets of $1.9 trillion. That leaves $3.4 trillion unfunded. These figures (from The Economist) are based upon discount rates that are risk-free or yields on Treasury bonds; playing the market has been disastrous for pension funds.

Coolidge was disdained because he didn't do much in office, but few presidents did unless faced with wars, rebellion, or other crises.

But the fact is, old Cal was right. Business is the thing most Americans do best, even better than government.

Everything that we do well, after all, depends on American business. Good government, military power, employment, charity, standards of living and serving as refuge to failed societies depend on the health of American enterprise. As business goes, so goes the nation....]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 At the beginning of the Obama administration a high staffer quipped, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”

This was not a joke. All the reforms that advanced federal power, which we now know the administration had in mind, have come about during crises such as war or depressions. The Civil War concentrated political power in Washington, reducing the sovereignty of the states, and put money power under federal control in New York. The New Deal was possible only because of the 1930s Great Depression. The Cold War and 9-11 created conditions that allowed government to exert more authority and control over citizens than before.

However, crises, like mandates,...]]>