Romney stumps in South Carolina

[avatar4321]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070414/ap_on_el_pr/romney2008

I like this statement from him:


"They talk and they debate and they don't get the job done," Romney said. "You see, in the private sector, if all you do is talk, they get fired. Talk is cheap," Romney said

[Hugh Lincoln]

It's funny - it wasn't until a little later in life that I encountered private business, working first as a newspaper reporter (yes, it's a business, but the journalists are, surprise surprise, almost completely isolated from the business side), then as a government lawyer, now as a private one, for business clients.

There are some differences, yes. Government is totally incompetent, except when it comes to destroying political enemies and collecting taxes. THAT they do well at. But private business can really blow, too. It just blows a little less. Dumb ideas? Money's lost, and bankruptcy rolls around. There's PLENTY of waste in business, believe me. Plenty of lazy bums, free riders, screw-ups, you name it. And the bigger the company, the more stupidity it can absorb.

So I'm cooler on the "private sector is the model" talk. Often we don't WANT government to be efficient, at least legislatively. We want the debate, because that can slow down bad ideas.