John Stossel‘s latest column focuses on Herman Cain‘s presidential bid:
As a businessman, Cain saw firsthand the harm that government interventions like the minimum-wage inflict. People lose their jobs without even realizing why.
“If the government were to mandate an increase in minimum wage today … it would simply drive the unemployment rate even higher.”
How would he deal with the debt problem?
“We will not default because the amount of interest we pay is approximately $500 billion a year. That is about 20 times smaller than the amount of revenue we bring in. … (P)ay the military people and their military families, make sure we pay the interest on debt, pay Medicare bills, and then make sure we pay the Medicaid bills. (E)verything else should be on the table. “
Cain says government is not only too big — it’s too complex. To change that, he said congressional bills should be no more than three pages. He’s taken a ribbing on that from Jon Stewart
“(T)hree pages was a number to exaggerate a point. Make sure bills are short enough and understandable enough for the American people to understand.”
Stossel is less thrilled about Cain’s responses to questions about ethanol subsidies, the war on drugs, and the TARP bailout. Still, he treats the Cain candidacy more seriously than some other media pundits.
The political class mocks Cain for seeking the presidency — despite never having held public office. I say: What’s so great about political experience? All that means is that you are skilled at sucking up to people, smiling when you don’t mean it and promising everything to everyone.
I would rather have a businessman as president than a career politician, although government must never be compared to a business, because unlike a company, government gets its revenue by force. Let’s also remember the real problem is that government intrudes in matters outside its proper sphere. Not even a great businessman could make that work.