Things Of National Import[ance]
Firstly, there’s this little piece from NRO about pre-9/11 intelligence. Guess who’s policies were the biggest hurdle for our intelligence community? Rhymes with “Shrill Fenton.”
Secondly, also courtesy of The Blog Father, there’s this interesting piece from Tom Maguire on Kerry’s tax return. Strange that he and his wife file separately, also strange that the media haven’t bothered digging up her return, should be easy enough to get someplace.
Lastly, that Steve Verdon Guy [Drink!] takes a look at college education as a signalling mechanism versus a way to invest in human capital. Money Quote:
There is also the possibility that a college education is both for aquiring human capital to some extent as well as being a signal. My intuition on this point is that the signalling will tend to trump the human capital accumulation aspect. That is, the policy of lowering the cost of college would tend to lower pay.
I think he’s probably right on this one, and I’m also pretty sure that our student government kids, and politicians in general, don’t think about the basic demand side effects that are driving up the prices of college. More Kids Wanting Degrees + Relatively Small Increase In Teaching Capacity = Price Goes Up. I could teach that to my dog, I guess my dog must be some sort of genius.
True enough, I think that Clinton-era policy might have been a contributing factor, but really it was the cumulation of DECADES of policy probably dating back to, hell, forever. I think this is one of those Pearl-harbor, 20/20 hindsight things. On the other hand, I can never miss an opportunity to do a little Reno bashing.
See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m absolutely with Goldberg for about the first half of the piece, concluding with the phrase “This blame-game stuff is counterproductive and dangerous…”
But how does he follow this perceptive sentiment? Well, by blaming everything on Clinton. Not exactly surprising to read on NRO, but tiresome nevertheless.