I praise blatant, timely incompetence because it takes massive force (in this case universally recognized blatant incompetence at precisely the right time), before there is any chance of getting change. There is a small window of opportunity here. The time to take advantage is now. Instead of silly Congressional investigations of the S&P in regards to the timing of their announcement, Congress simply needs to write a bill eliminating the NRSRO label and the requirement that debt be rated. Yes, it’s as simple as that. S&P, I salute your gross incompetence. Your timing was perfect. Whether anything sensible happens remains to be seen, but at least there is a small chance for reasonable voices to be heard.

There are a lot of reasons for Texan growth, and very few of them can be laid at the feet of the governor. For which we should really thank God. If states really could be boosted into the stratosphere, or driven into the ground, merely by changing the occupant of the governor’s office, we’d have to live with the constant risk that our fellow voters would elect an idiot, and destroy our lives. Thankfully, the government isn’t quite that powerful.

LearnLiberty has an excellent short video featuring St. Lawrence University economics professor taking on the myth that the cost of living has risen over the years. He does it in two ways …

Maybe S&P is wrong to downgrade the U.S. credit rating. But after it whiffed so spectacularly and totally missed the riskiness of the subprime-related mortgage backed securities, it’s seems a bit unsporting to turn around and criticize them for being too vigilant now. And if the U.S. government doesn’t like the power wielded by S&P–well, it has only itself to blame for bestowing so much of that power in the first place.

US politics may be moving toward a Republican platform of downsizing government spending, neutering unions, and reducing public sector promises, as many Americans come to believe we should retreat from spending and acting so much abroad, focus more on domestic issues, and pare back past government expansion. Rick Perry seems determined to run on that platform, and if elected President, to act much like Margaret Thatcher in the UK in shifting the tone of politics and the role of government in society. Of course, Thatcher’s policies were much-hated by liberals, labor, and others who had benefitted from expansive social spending. But she prevailed nonetheless, and many people feel the UK emerged stronger and richer for it. So could Rick Perry be the US’s Margaret Thatcher? It remains to be seen whether he has the intelligence, political skills, and policy success that distinguished the Iron Lady. But at the least, given the zeitgeist of the US, Perry should be taken very seriously as a candidate for President.