Sage words from a CFO

I just came back from a dinner party with the CFO of a regional bank outside the US.  He commented on the day's performance on the US equity markets.

 

"The market just sh*t itself."  We soon agreed that the markets were polite enough to clean up most of the mess before the day was over.

 

Yes, the analogy is appropriate.  The market had been reasonably well behaved, then WHAM!  A big stinker that made everyone unhappy.  This was after a few days of similar happenings.

 

I suspect that the market started taking Paxil a few weeks ago to address all the down days it was having.  Now matter how good the drug works, it never helps your mood to crap your pants.

 

We didn't discuss my corollary to his analogy.  But it is awesome.

American Express - I've calmed down

I wrote two recent blog posts about American Express. Long story short, they had IT issues and they gave me the runaround for a long, long time.

The issues have since been resolved. American Express folks have been friendly and helpful in the past week.

I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. No need to keep those posts up.

I don't have the cajones (or ovaries)...

The always-insightful Megan McArdle wrote about a subject that I wouldn't touch.  She wrote about stay-at-home moms and the economic arguments against higher compensation for childcare workers.  In a nutshell, she called childcare  -*gasp*- "Unskilled Labor".  Her posts are here, here, here, here, and here. 

Why won't I touch this subject?  Simple.  I don't have the guts.  More specifically, I don't have the ovaries. 

I'm actually rather ashamed to admit it...  I am the first to speak out against setting different rules for different genders, races, nationalities, religions, sexual preference, and favorite dog breed.  We are all individuals.  We should not get special treatment based on our group identities.  African Americans should not get a free pass when they say the N word.  Women should not get a free pass when they bash the opposite gender.  Muslims should not be exempt from drug sniffing dogs.  Jews should not be exempt  from working Saturdays if they knew weekend hours were common in their chosen field.  Christians should not be able to impose Blue Laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol and naughty books on Sunday.

Granted, I would be breaking no law if I wrote about the topic of childcare, stay-at-home mommies, and the fact that it is "unskilled labor" in economic terms.  I would be breaking an unwritten rule, however.  Society frowns upon men who have anything negative to say about childcare and the value thereof.  It's a popularly accepted stereotype...  Women are better with kids, childcare is the most valuable thing most women can do, and men have no standing to discuss the topic.  If I were to dissent from this view, it would be akin to me saying that the KKK had a point, or that Hitler was not such a bad guy...

Of course, the KKK most assuredly did NOT have a valid point.  And Hitler is pretty much the textbook definition of "bad guy" (though there is quite a bit of competition from Stalin, Mao, Che, Pol Pot, etc...  I think Hitler still takes the title.)

In the case of those  evil dudes, public opinion is right.  Those guys  suck.

But public opinion is often wrong.  Very wrong.  During the Civil War, most Americans thought that blacks were not equal to whites (though perhaps deserved better treatment than slaves).  All sorts of scorn was heaped upon the brave minority of whites who stood up for blacks as true equals.  The view was unpopular, but it was right.

It takes cajones to stand up against public opinion.  Take a stand.  Say the right thing.  Take the consequences, knowing that it will damage your reputation and possibly harm your career and even your safety.

Well, I don't have the cajones to speak out on every issue.  The compensation of childcare  workers is not on my top ten list of crusades at the moment.  Megan McArdle received quite a few strongly worded comments against her position.  One commenter  called one of Megan's sentences the "Stupidest Thing I've Read".  

Just imagine what kind of response I'd get.  I'm a white, childless, thirty-something DINK working in Manhattan,  and driving a BMW.  I'd guess that people would excoriate me for expressing unpopular views that only women are allowed to discuss.  I'd get similar responses if I took over BET and started airing reruns of the Brady Bunch.

  

But I think Megan makes a good case.  The definition of "skilled labor" is, as she puts it, "something comparatively few people know--or can quickly learn--how to do."  Raising children is among the most common human occupations on earth.  It is certainly not easy, and many people screw it up royally.  Childcare is almost always "hard", but it's not a "skilled" occupation.

Being a doctor is always a "skilled" occupation...  Even though some doctors have an "easy" job. ( Of course a great many have a very hard job).

Here are a few random thoughts on the topic of childcare:

• I am friggin' awesome with kids.  I start to lose them around the high-school years, but infants through tweens, I rule with kids.  Really.
• 
  
• Kids wear me out fast.  I have no idea how people can do it for years on end.  One whole weekend with a niece or nephew is about all I can muster.
• 
  
• Breeding and proper parenting are NOT the same thing.  Almost anyone can get knocked up.
• 
  
• I see a LOT of bad parenting going on.  It's usually a combination of a lack of discipline, overprotection, paranoia, excess structure, apathy, smothering, absenteeism, new-age nutrition, junk food, excess concern over self esteem, unwarranted contempt for competition, abject disregard for other people in the room/restaurant/park, the fiercely defended belief that the child can do no wrong, and the use of the child as a fashion/lifestyle accessory (ala Paris Hilton's little dog).
• 
  
• Just because a man/woman knows how to earn a good income each year, that does not confer some magical ability to be a good parent.
• 
  
• Most affluent folks know just one way to make as much money as they do.  If you allow a doctor and a lawyer to switch jobs for a day, they'll both screw it up royally.  So why do six and seven figure professional folks think that they are worth just as much in this new role as parent?  Their  resumes show no relevant experience.  Their comparable worth would be entry level.

This post rambled a bit... So let me summarize:

• Megan McArdle wrote some very insightful posts (as usual) expressing a demonstrably true yet quite taboo point of view on the issue of childcare's current market price given supply and demand.
• 
  
• Megan was very careful (rightly so) to emphasize that childcare and parenting are extraordinarily difficult and important jobs/roles.  
• 
  
• Megan received some blowback for breaking with feminist orthodoxy.
• 
  
• As a dude, I would probably catch a lot more heat for writing the exact same thing.  For no reason that makes any sense, society confers standing to discuss certain issues based on gender and/or ethnicity.
• 
  
• That's not right.
• 
  
• Besides, I am great with kids.  I know a little something about childcare.  And economics.  And market dynamics of compensation in the private sector (at least in NYC area financial and real estate firms).  I don't pretend to be an expert in any or all of these areas, but my opinions are not automatically invalid because my restroom has a urinal and yours doesn't.
• 
  
• It's healthy to discuss issues with people who disagree with you.  Stick to the rules of logic, avoid personal attacks, and you'll end up smarter... Even if you were right to begin with, but especially if you weren't.
• 
  
• It's also healthy to debate issues that you believe are closed. Are stay-at-home moms worth $200k per year?  Should we adopt the Kyoto Protocols?  Is NAFTA hurting the country?  Was it logical to invade Iraq?  Again, keep emotion out of it, debate your position using the best logic you can bring to bear, and accept that you may still disagree at the end of the discussion.  Many people who disagree with you are not evil, self-interested, stupid, ignorant, etc...  They may simply have a different perspective, different facts at their command, or different priorities.  In the case of "skilled" vs. "unskilled" labor, the disagreement may be purely semantic.  Parenting requires a lot of skill, but not "skill" in economic terms.  The human mind has many innate skills that even the best supercomputers cannot master...  But if most other people share the ability, it is not a "skill" according to economists.  Driving a semi rig, changing diapers, policing the streets of a major city...   All jobs that are too hard for the best technology...  But none are "skilled" occupations.  Important, hard, laudable...  Yes.

OK, even my summary was lengthy.  I'd better stop soon.  Maybe I'll end this post like the last episode of the Sopr

Testing Plaxo...

I try to do the whole "online social networking" thing.  It's really not my style, but I try.  I figure that it's good for my career.  Plus, I might stay in touch with good people that are not in my monthly rotation.  (I can be a creature of habit.)

In a completely different spirit, I post to my blog once in a blue moon.  I use that space to think out loud.  I vent.  I share opinions.  I state my political and ideological preferences.  My intended audience comes looking for exactly that.  

I don't get in the face of those who plan to vote for another candidate.  My old college friends might have very passionate views that are completely different from mine.  We remain friends because our friendship is based on something else...  Shared interests, mutual respect, and general enjoyment of what we do together.  

What we don't do is talk politics (much).

Then along comes Plaxo.  

Friggin' Plaxo. 

I tell Plaxo about my Blog's URL.  I assumed that interested people could *CHOOSE* click through and see my opinions for themselves.

Nope.

Plaxo put my blog in its "pulse".  Anyone looking through Plaxo for updates would see the first few lines of my latest blog posts.

Not cool, man.  

Two couples I know are both getting married soon.  When they look through Plaxo to update addresses for their invitations, then BAM...  They'll read about my thoughts on Fred Thompson.

I think I fixed the problem...  I think.  We'll see.

I already shut off my FaceBook page.  Maybe I'll shut off Plaxo Pulse, too.  Maybe.  It all depends on how many people from that site find this post.

I'm with Fred, too.

Hiya.

 

Lots of digital dust on this website.  I lost the fire in the belly for blogging back in 2005.  I still have strong and hopefully informed opinions.  I also have a job that makes it unwise to declare political opinions too publicly.  I am always amazed at what some people consider to be controversial (or even incindiary).

 

At the same time, I am my own man (I mean "person"...  See what I mean?).  There is more to life than one's career path. 

 

So without further beating around the proverbial bush, here's my view on who should succeed the presidential Bush.

 

I'm with Fred Thompson. 

 

I'll spare you the long version.  (I am lazy, and it gets me in trouble.)  Let's just say that I like him for good reasons.  If you assume I like him for what you consider bad reasons, you might be wrong...  (Unless you are a radical religious communist.  Then yeah, I probably vote the opposite of you.)

 

Fred is a longshot right now.  Most candidates are.  I hope he wins.  Barring that, I hope he stays in the race for a long time.  He is a "grown up" with some sensible views that he articulates well.  At the very least, I hope he forces the other candidates to acknowledge that his views exist.  ("Federalism" is an oft-ignored concept.)  With luck, he'll leave a lasting impression with some voters and maybe even the guy that wins the race.  (I doubt he'll change anything about Hilary.) 

 

Goldwater got us thinking about entrepreneurialism and smaller government.  Newt pushed the debate away from socialized medicine for a decade or so.  You don't need to be president to make a difference in Washington.  Thompson could push us in a good direction if he stays relevant.

 

Maybe he could do even more as president.

 

I tend not to put much faith in people.  People change.  They fail to live up to the standards they set.  They "grow" in office.  

 

I put my faith in two things:  Ideas and Systems.

 

Ideas are powerful.  The idea of a representative democracy was revolutionary 200+ years ago.  Federalism is a good idea.  Both ideas are protected by checks and balances built into the Constitution.  That document is the foundation of our System of government.

 

Alas, we are too complacent when politicians chip away at the System in the name of dubious (yet cleveryly marketed) Ideas.  For example...  Federalism is almost dead, thanks to an overly broad reading of the "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" clauses of the Constitution.

 

I like Fred not so much because of the man he is (which seems more than fine, btw).  I like Fred because he embraces the system and the ideas that it was designed to protect and employ.

 

Even if Fred went the way of Dubya, growing in office and shying away from his core principles...  At least Fred would start off pushing us in the right direction.

 

To the cynic in me, Fred seems the least bad option.

 

To the optimist...  I just want him to keep on message... Then follow through in office.

 

End rant

Am I a Liberal?

No.  At least not by the Atrios/Drum definition.

 

Drezner, McArdle, Bainbridge , and now even Instapundit have taken this test.  My answers are very similar to Glenn's. Where they differ, they are similar to Megan's. 

• Undo the bankruptcy bill enacted by this administration - Like Megan, I like this bill.  It is not a perfect reform, but it's a step towards more accountability
• Repeal the estate tax repeal - Estate taxes are horribly inefficient, and they affect far too many "middle class" folks.  If you die a year before retirement, with a total savings of $1.5M, you'd be hit with estate taxes on a total savings pool that would barely accommodate a median household in some parts of the country (Manhattan, Bergen County NJ).  Plus, people jump through crazy and expensive hoops to avoid this tax.  All the lawyers and consultants that make a living off of estate tax avoidance should be doing something more constructive.  My position: No estate tax in general, but if we must have one: Cap it at 25% max, set a floor of $30M in assets that would not be subject to tax.  Index that bitch for inflation.
• Increase the minimum wage and index it to the CPI - The minimum wage is silly, and should be abolished.  There are whole categories of work that don't deserve the minimum.  For example, moderating web forums, house-sitting, and minding a low-traffic coffee bar all activities some people would gladly do for beer money.  Plus, any artificial restriction on demand necessarily creates untapped supply in competitive elastic markets.  Translation: The folks who need jobs the most are hurt the most.  You want to help the poor? Take the chains off of employers.  Unleash the market to create labor shortages.  Let them bid up the price of floor sweepers and strawberry pickers.
• Universal health care (obviously the devil is in the details on this one) - We are way, way, way too far in this direction already.   The markets are distorted.  People paying cash are charged more than those who let big brother foot the bill.  The inherent problems of third-party payment systems are so freaking obvious, it takes an act of sheer ignorance or blind idealism to ignore the predictable problems of Medicare, Medicaid, and health "insurance" (or, as Arnold Kling calls it "insulation").  Note to self...  Give AK a link.
• Increase CAFE standards. Some other environment-related regulation - CAFE Standards are absurd.  If memory serves, Chrysler tried to sell subsidized street-legal golf carts to make the targets.  A better answer?  Cut payroll taxes a few hundred bucks a year and hike gas taxes by the same amount in the aggregate.  Politically unpalatable, I know...  But economically, we'd create disincentives for CO2 production and petroleum usage.  At the same time, we'd cut disincentives to working, hiring, etc.  People would drive less, use more efficient vehicles, and work more.  Sounds easy, and it is.  The hard part is selling it to the economically illiterate masses.
• Pro-reproductive rights, getting rid of abstinence-only education, improving education about and access to contraception including the morning after pill, and supporting choice - I'm not a big fan of getting the government in the business of brainwashing kids about sex, breeding condoms, etc.  However, public schools are a fact of life for now, and many parents are dropping the ball.  So, yes, condoms are a good thing.  The morning after pill sounds horrific based on a bit of research, but OK.  I don't want first-trimester abortions illegal, case closed.  I don't want third trimester abortions to be legal unless there are risks involved.  In between, heck, tie goes to the mother I guess...  But there is no "right" answer on abortion, only tradeoffs.  I just gave you my current thinking...  Though it is subject to change.
• Simplify and increase the progressivity of the tax code - Simplify, yes.  More "progressivity"? No effin' way.   One of the biggest problems society faces is the abundance of people taking from government, and the dearth of people contributing.  The majority takes.  If the majority continues to serve themselves by taking from the minority's pocket, the system will implode...  Sort of the way Germany and France are headed today.  Boortz's "Fair Tax" or Forbes' "Flat Tax" are both MUCH better systems than we have today.  Also, taxes are just too damn high in general.
• Kill faith-based funding. Certainly kill federal funding of anything that engages in religious discrimination. - Look, I am not religious.  But that doesn't mean I condone state-sponsored atheism.  Bottom line: To the extent the state hands out money/contracts for performance, an institution's ability to perform should be the sole criterion for eligibility.  The plain fact is that many Christian charities are far more effective than their secular governmental counterparts.  Their beliefs should not be used against them.  At the same time, if the government starts giving out cash to misogynistic jingoistic jerkwads (because they are effective at a particular task), then maybe we should really stop to consider whether we should use tax dollars for this purpose in the first place...  Or at least wonder why the jerkwads are better than the other alternatives available.
• Reduce corporate giveaways - Yes.  Taxes and rules should be simple and universal.  Any rule, handout, or tax that is "targeted" is, by definition, unfair, uncompetitive, and in my opinion, unAmerican.
• Have Medicare run the Medicare drug plan - Why not let Stalin or Mao run it?  Both Medicare and the drug plan are absurd.  It is hard to break such promises once made...  But we never had the ability to deliver them in the long run.  It was a lie.  People like this lie.  They want to avoid the truth while on the dole.  After all, they did pay into this Ponzi scheme for decades, and now it is their turn to collect.  The only problem: the gravy train is losing steam fast.  My solution?  Freeze Medicare and the drug plan at current levels.  Procedures and drugs developed after 2007 are not covered...  Nor are other visits that would not be covered today.  Therefore, every future senior citizen will have at least the same level of coverage as today's.  Over the next 20 years, all modern 2007 drugs will come off patent, all cutting-edge 2007 procedures will be much cheaper after decades of learning economies.  Medicare and Medicaid should be solvent.  If patients want access to futuristic stuff, they'll need to either save up or buy private insurance.
• Force companies to stop underfunding their pensions. Change corporate bankruptcy law to put workers and retirees at the head of the line with respect to their pensions. - Pensions suck ass.  People should be in charge of their own assets.  Pensions turn workers into victims, beholden to their corporate overlords.  They subject workers to concentrated risk, having their current income and retirement eggs in the same basket.  They make corporate income statements more volatile.  They discourage workers from becoming financially literate.  In essence, they suck ass.  But yes, if they exist, they should be funded.
• Leave the states alone on issues like medical marijuana. Generally move towards "more decriminalization" of drugs, though the details complicated there too. - Okey dokey.  Federalism is a generally good thing.  States like NJ tend to make the wrong choices, but I suppose that's the point.  It only takes a few states doing the right thing to apply pressure to the rest of the lot...  Which is why Massachusetts was such a big deal with the gay marriage thing.
• Paper ballots - Yes.  They are still subject to fraud, but the jerks have to really work for it.
• Improve access to daycare and other pro-family policies. Obviously details matter. - Let the markets handle it.  Parents have thousands to spend on ballet lessons, private schools, video games, and big-ass SUV's....  Why subsidize them further simply for breeding?  (hat tip to Bainbridge)   Again, unleash the markets to compete for talent.  Day care will be offered as a perk in lieu of some fraction of salary for working parents.
• Raise the cap on wages covered by FICA taxes. - NO!!!!   Instead, dump every cent into private savings accounts.what was a regressive tax now becomes a turbo-charged savings vehicle for the working class.
• Marriage rights for all, which includes "gay marriage" and quicker transition to citizenship for the foreign spouses of citizens. - Like Glenn says, it shouldn't be the states' business in the first place.  I'm all for whatever social arrangements people want to make for themselves.  I am NOT for the state deciding who wins and who loses based on their junk.

Bottom line?  I am not a "liberal" the way these people describe the term.  Frankly, the term doesn't fit.  They are more accurately described as "socialistic, populist, secular, environmentalist, social engineers lacking a firm grasp of economics and science".

 

Personally, I'd label myself more as a "libertarian-leaning agnostic capitalist in favor of personal responsibility and more substantial education in math, science, and economics."

 

But your mileage may vary.

This post is NOT about my butt

I am not comfortable with my butt being front and center on my blog for so long.

Or any/all of the rest of my "junk" for that matter.
Stephen W. Stanton
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Sent from a BlackBerry (big thumbs on tiny buttons).

My butt

This is not a blog post about my butt.

You were misinformed.
Stephen W. Stanton
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Sent from a BlackBerry (big thumbs on tiny buttons).

Pay as you go

Pensions piss me off.

 

Of course, they are great when they work.  My grandfather-in-law can attest to that.  (He's an actuary's nightmare, soon to begin his 4th decade as a pensioner.)

 

However, pensions often do more harm than good.  They put retirees (and future retirees) at risk, and they can cause tremendous tension in the worker/management relationship.  Plus they turn a basic fee-for-service arrangement into a crapshoot, gambling retirement benefits against a company's future viability.  I'll go into detail on these (and other) points another day.

 

What's a better alternative than pensions? 

 

"Pay as you go."

 

Companies should give workers every penny of what they earned each month.  Workers then choose how to allocate their earnings among different investment and benefit options.   With no pension vesting/funding obligations haning over their heads, employees and employers can part ways at any point without screwing each other over.

 

Here's what I want to see...  I want to see companies give each worker a complete accounting of his/her total compensation cost...  Salary plus employers' share of taxes, plus health benefits, plus pension contributions, plus workers' compensation and liability insurance, plus subsidies for commuting, gym memberships, day care, parking, etc.  Here's an example:

 

Nominal Salary: $50,000

Employer's FICA: $3,825

Unemployment / Disability: $500

Actuarial Pension Obligation: $10,000

Health Care Premiums: $4,800

WC / Liability Insurance: $4,000

Subsidies for parking, etc.: $1,200

Total Annual Employee Cost: $74,325

 

Employee's take-home pay after income tax withholding (30%): $35,000

Total taxes & benefits:$39,325

 

Showing these numbers would do a few things.  First, it would make apples-to-apples comparisons a lot easier for people looking to switch jobs.  More importantly, it should shock people to see how inefficient current compensation practices are (due largely to perversions in the tax code).  Hopefully that would spark an interest in some overdue tax reforms.

 

But the most basic reason to show these numbers: it would make clear once and for all what the deal is between a worker and employer.  For the work done in the past month, the fee is $74,325.  There are no IOU's, no future benefits...  Performance in exchange for consideration.  At the end of the month, both parties are even. 

 

If one believes the deal is unfair, there can be a renegotiation, or both parties can part ways.  There would be no pension overhang keeping them together in spite of growing dissatisfaction.

 

Ah, well.  The idea is well developed, but this posting is not my most coherent.  Give me some time to polish it up.

 

G'night.

Master of my gastric domain

Some guys at work started a weight-loss contest. They thought I should join. I figured they had a point, so I did.

There are steep financial penalties for failure to shed the pounds. (We all have a common target percentage.).

So far, I've eaten right for almost a week. That's about equal to my total number of good days all last year. Plus this'll be my 5th day of serious exercise in a row. That's more than I mustered since before Halloween.

Given that my weight was fairly stable for the past 6 months, this dramatic relative improvement in my diet and exercise regimen should get me where I need to be.

The hard part will be staying there (or even getting healthier still).
Stephen W. Stanton
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Sent from a BlackBerry (big thumbs on tiny buttons).

First post in a long time

Things are good. Busy, but good.

Politically, I am homeless. Not happy about that. Reagan and Gingrich made me think of myself as a Republican. Little did I realize those two gents were outliers, surprisingly successful for such square pegs in a round-hole party. (Ask me which hole I mean...)

I am feeling a bit disillusioned. I wonder what other illusions I may still be clinging to without knowing.

Ah, well. Life is still pretty good. Voting is still easy. And the career, marriage, life.... All well above average.

That's all for now.
Stephen W. Stanton
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Sent from a BlackBerry (big thumbs on tiny buttons).

DayByDay is Funny

I wrote the last post in a hurry. I tried to edit it, but Blogger is really starting to piss me off. It all showed up as gobbledygook in my editor.

Grr.

But I wrote the whole blogroll link while home sick yesterday. I was a bit tired cranky, and it was perhaps not the best time to be criticising other folks. I was incapable of fairness.

So here are two caveats to my posts of the last few days.

1. My Blogroll and my post about it are in no order of preference. The Blogroll is kept in reverse chronological order as of most recent posting. Some sites do not register their updates, so they are stuck at the bottom. My blog post took a snapshot of the Blogroll as it stood Sunday afternoon.

2. DaybyDay is funny. By "not as funny as it used to be", I should have been clear. The strip used to make me pee my pants. Full-on. Now that I have built up a tolerance for its humor, only a few drops slip out. Still damn funny, and occasionally pee-able. In beauty terms, it went from Angelina Jolie down to Eva Longoria. Still mighty fine. Just not, you know, AJ.

Tour of my Blogroll

I am going to quickly run down my (somewhat dated) blogroll to give you my snap impression of each entry and some idea of the reason for its inclusion.   I got the idea after visiting this link via Instapundit, gatekeeper of all online wisdom.

Note that I have not been blogging much lately or even reading as many blogs as I used to.  My new job requires me to focus a lot more of my time and attention on issues apart from the stuff I like to cover in this space.

The Moderate Voice Joe Gandleman is usually pretty fair in the way he looks at issues.   He's a sharp guy, but perhaps doesn't dig as deep on some of the issues I care about.  On the other hand, he digs deeper than I would on other things.   This blog helps me test the sentiments of the thoughtful middle.  (Not sure how many more there are in that group besides Joe…)

PoliBlog As unfair as it may be, I lump this blog together with Outside The Beltway as a source of interesting links, clippings and commentary from a perspective I often (but not always) share.  

Outside the Beltway As unfair as it may be, I lump this blog together with PoliBlog as a source of interesting links, clippings and commentary from a perspective I often (but not always) share.

Volokh Conspiracy If I could have had professors like these guys, I may have gone to law school instead of B-school.   They touch upon many interesting topics.  I like that they give me an education on the legal issues of each topic.   I especially like that they actually seem to care about the law rather than just using it to advance an agenda.  If they do have an agenda, however, maybe I don't see it because I agree with it.

Powerline I haven't read this guys much lately (since they started the popups).   From what I recollect, they provide perhaps a more right-leaning partisan view, with a less legal analysis and a little bit more non-legal analysis thal Volokh.

WizBang I love these guys.  They are a wacky bucnch, with quirky sensibilities I can appreciate.   Jay Tea seems like a particularly odd duck, with a lot of talent and a really crappy job.  At least it seems that way.   Wizbang is on my daily reading list, no matter how busy I am.

Truth Laid Bear TTLB is a place I should go more often.  But I don't.  Not sure why.

Kudlow's Money Politics  Kudlow rocks.   He's a supply-side Reaganite, eternally bullish on the economy and dogged in his pursuit of a more hospitable business environment (lower, simpler taxes, less spending, less regulation, etc.).   I only wish more Republicans listened to Kudlow and ignored Jerry Falwell.   Kudlow works in the same world I do (though at a different level):   NYC high-finance.

Ace of Spades HQ A guilty pleasure.  Ace is a foul-mouthed smartass.   But he's funny.  And odd.  And often right on target.  He's proof positive that politics does not need to by dull or dumbed-down to be interesting.

Instapundit I am standing in a long line of bloggers waiting to kiss Glenn's ass in person.   Instapundit is the first and last site I check during every internet session.  He's got an "Army of Davids" feeding him links to new and interesting stuff.   From space elevators to life extension, to nanotechnology, to NY Times bashing…  Glenn's got it all…  And we agree on about 80% to 90% of issues.  I like Glenn because his strengths are not my own.  I am more of a finance / tax / management / business guy.   He specializes in everything else.

Catallarchy This is another place I should go more often.   I kinda sorta know one of the writers from years back.  Catallarchy seems fairly rigid in its defense of a pure form of libertarianism, one that Ayn Rand may appreciate.    I can appreciate it too, to some extent…  But I don't need to sit in the church to hear another sermon.  I'm out in the field doing capitalist missionary work ( i.e., making money).

Andrew Sullivan I don't read this guy anymore.  He was good for a while.  Really good.  He might still be.  But in my he just became too much of a whiny bitch.   (And no, that comment has nothing to do with his sexual orientation.  It has everything to do with overly-emotional rants devoid of any reasoned analysis for the last few months I read him.   Breaks my heart, especially since it happened shortly after I gave him money.) 

Professor Bainbridge I like this guy.  Not exactly humble by any stretch, but his ego seems well-earned.   Seems a bit heavy on the Catholicism, mixing it with his politics in ways I don't.  For the most part, I agree with the guy.   If only there were more people as knowledgeable on business issues as Professor Bainbridge in politics, in universities, or heck, anywhere, really.

IMAO Another guilty pleasure, though not one I indulge as often since transitioning to a group blog.   It is a fine humor blog.  I just find Frank J's stuff flows so much better from post to post without other voices between them.  Just a comedy preference.

NYYR Blog NY Young Republicans.  They do good work in a City that desperately needs an alternative voice to rebut the monolithic Democratic machine.   (Note: it would be equally unhealthy to have a city dominated 5 to 1 by Republicans.  As we see in Congress, the GOP cannot really be trusted with too strong a majority.)

Conspiracy... Poor & Stupid This guy's got the easiest job on the internet: Pointing holes in Paul Krugman's columns.   I skim occasionally, but what's the point?  Anyone that accepts Krugman's ideas is unlikely to be receptive to a reasoned rebuttal.

Cox and Forkum Really, really good political cartoons that make the right points.

EconLog Arnold Kling and Bryan Caplan make more economic sense in a single post than CNBC makes in a whole day of programming.   Of course, that is more than a whole year of Democratic speeches.  Republicans, for their part need this blog more and more.

Reason's Hit & Run This is in the occasional rotation.  Fairly irreverent, always libertarian.  Sometimes I think they care more about being right than being relevant.  In fairness, I am sometimes neither.

Jane Galt Mostly written by Megan McArdle, the rare MBA that paid attention through B-school and understands the concepts rather than just the buzzwords.   She cherrypicks some interesting issues, and I usually agree with her libertarian-ish take on things.

Vodka Pundit I'd like to meet these guys.  They can drink and they can think, usually at the same time.  Pragmatic libertarians and supporters of strong national-defense. 

The Agitator (Balko) A shrill libertarian that cares more about Republican abuses of civil liberties than those of the Democrats.   Still, the smart and caustic writing on some odd topics makes me come back every now and again.

QandO Neo-Libertarian blog.  Should be higher in my rotation.   Not sure why not.  I suppose it's a little too close to home, and I want to make sure I branch out.  Maybe.  

Politics1 (Political news and databases) A pretty darn good repository of political data ( i.e., tracking who's running for what where, officially and unofficially, and related polls).  I am glued to this site around election day.  Not a blog per se.  

Liberty Lover Some guy I met in New York.   He seemed nice.  His blog was OK when I checked it a few times.

The Spoons Experience I like this guy.  More conservative than me, for sure, but interesting and smart.   Like me, he doesn't blog much anymore (mostly for work reasons).  Too bad.  Our loss.

ALL-US.ORG What the hell happened to this site?  I was so psyched for this "residence for any and everybody who supports smaller government, individual and civil liberty, and a strong defense of the country we all love so much."

My Pet Jawa Not in the regular rotation, but among the first blogs to link me.

Michelle Malkin Fiesty conservative.  Prudish, yet non-PC.  She picks contraversial issues, takes the unpopular side, does her homework, and kicks ass.  Quite interesting.

Pejmanesque  Old link to a guy with lots of fresh ideas.  Pejman is interesting and impressive…  Yet I haven't read much of his stuff since he went over to the new site…  

My Foot. Your Ass.  I just love the name.

Google News Though it may be a somewhat partisan newsbot, it is still a good place to start any search for the day's news.   Of course, you should supplement it with the WSJ or somesuch.

NRO's The Corner The National Review is full of some very bright and very conservative thinkers.   They are way to the right of me on social issues (I'm more libertarian-ish), but they do make their arguments very well.  Plus they can be silly.

ALLAH IS IN THE HOUSE  No idea what happened to this guy, but Allah was the best thing on the internet for a while.   Big loss.  Never to be replaced. 

DayByDay Cartoon by Chris Muir  Not as funny as it used to be, but certainly worth 20 seconds a day.  

Tech Central Station  I used to write here.   I may again soon.  So obviously, this is the greatest online publication since the dawn of the internet.

Chicago Boyz I should read them more.  Pragmatic economic analysis of current geopolitical issues.   And a bunch of other stuff I would know about if I read them more.

Drudge Report (warning: popups) Used to be apart of my daily rotation.   Now that I mainly surf at home, acting as my own IT department…  I stopped.  I did like the selective news clippings and gossip-y headlines.

Little Green Footballs Anti-Islamist central.   This guy takes the war on militant Islamism seriously.  He also is quick to point out the shortcomings of traditional media reportage on the topic.

Dilbert Cartoon by Scott Adams You must read Dilbert daily to survive and prosper in the modern corporation.  

Town Hall (Vast Right Wing...) I don't go here much, but it is a good repository of right-leaning opinion.   (And by "leaning" I mean from about 20 degrees off center to a full 90, maybe more)

Larry Kudlow (subscribe) This is a good way to get some deeper insight on Kudlow's analysis.   He's not quite mainstream, but he is pretty darn good.

WSJ's Opinion Journal I skim WSJ's free columns everyday for something new and/or interesting.

WSJ (front page free, pay for more) You gotta read the headlines at least if you want to wark in Finance.

Damodaran's Corp Fin Bonanza Everyone who publicly comments on business should be required to read the slides in this excellent public repository of corporate finance training materials and tools.

Hoboken Gov't Website I live in Hoboken.  This is my government's site.  

Brain Terminal This guy is the anti-Michael Moore.  Luckily, he also looks like the opposite of Mr. Moore.

NY Times (rather, Times Watch) Don't check it much.  But it's a worthy (and needed) cause.

Neal Boortz I read Neal a few times a week.  He and I agree on a lot.   He's very politically incorrect, and he's very pissed off.  But hey, he makes a lot of sense.  And he's funny.  

Real Clear Politics Excellent source of the day's political news and opinions, aggregated from a number of sources.

Naked Chicks! Just click it, you perv.

The Mud and the Blood and the Beer  He linked me in my early days.   His blog seems to be missing.  Oh well.

Club for Growth (not a blog)  Stephen Moore's old home.   I like Stephen Moore a whole hell of a lot.  Supposedly, the Club wasn't very nice to him.  For shame.   The stated mission of getting fiscal conservatives elected is a noble one.

Google News (not a blog)  Why is this on my blogroll twice?

Maxim's Girlfriend of the Day There's more to life than politics, nowumsayin?

Belmont Club Doesn't seem to be working today.   I don't read him much.  Wretchard seems to be a particularly astute student of geopolitics and military affairs.

Pat Sajak Yes, that Pat Sajak.   Ask Ace why.

PCAOB (aka WAFWOT) This is the new quasi-governmental body that oversees the Public Accounting industry.   They play a big role in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  They seem to be doing their job appropriately so far, but these sorts of "idependent" agencies often wildly exceed their mandate.

Ramblings of a Bill My friend Bill is amazingly smart, very funny, and has priorities that are way, way different than mine….   Though perhaps somewhat similar political leanings.  Perhaps.

Voting for Forrester (but mostly against Corzine)

FYI - Although I may well vote for Libertarians for all other offices from now through 2006 (and perhaps beyond), I am voting for Doug Forrester for NJ governor.

 

Why?  Oh, a bunch of reasons.  Corzine is a populist hack, either completely ignorant of basic economics or knowingly deceitful about the impact of his plans.  His plans for more-socialized healthcare and more "progressive" taxation are bad for the state (and especially bad for me personally).

 

But more than all that, the guy really pisses me off.  I had literally dozens of phone calls from his campaign over the past few months.  Every single call was a recording...  Except for one that asked for money.  That was a person.

 

My wife and I are on both the federal and the state "do not call" lists.  Yet Corzine happily exploits the loophole that allows him to pester me more than all telemarketers of the past two years put together.  Grrr.

 

Beyond that, the guy just seems shady.  I don't mind that he had a thing with an attractive union boss.  I do mind that he gave her a half a million bucks, even as she continues to speak on behalf of thousands of state employees.  Conflict of interest?  YES!!!  This is about the clearest possible example I have ever seen outside mafia movies.

 

So, Mr. Forrester...  You win my vote by default, at least for now.  I'll be looking into you, too, buster...  It'd pain me to let Corzine win, but I will vote Libertarian if you don't stand up to my scrutiny.