l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 双城记－－向左转的底特律和向右转的休斯顿；1900-1930年间，底特律是全世界增长
最快的城市，今天那里非婚生子女比例是80%，半数人口处于文盲状态
Tale of Two Cities
By Mona Charen
1/29/2013
It isn't often that you get reading suggestions from a United States senator
, but that's what happened this past weekend for those who attended the
National Review Institute's summit meeting in Washington, D.C.
The three-day conclave, part election post-mortem and part revival meeting (
that is, reviving conservatism and America), featured a bracing dose of
conservative intellectuals along with activists, campaign professionals and
office holders. Newly minted Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke in his
characteristic fashion -- fluidly without notes or podium.
Cruz, while praising Mitt Romney in general and acknowledging that anyone
can have a slip of the tongue, zeroed in on the 47 percent gaffe. It is
precisely to those who are striving for something better, Cruz argued, those
who are poor or unemployed, to whom Republicans should aim their message of
opportunity and growth. They are the ones who stand to benefit most from
policies that promote growth.
I was sitting near Mario Loyola of the Texas Public Policy Foundation as the
senator spoke, so I caught Loyola's surprised expression when the senator
quoted him. We should reflect, the senator suggested, on an article Loyola
wrote for National Review in 2011. It's a tale of two cities -- Houston and
Detroit -- symbols of two radically different governing philosophies.
Both cities were once dominated by one industry -- autos in Detroit, oil in
Houston. Both grew robustly during the Second World War, but the cities
responded very differently to setbacks in the years that followed. Detroit
and Michigan attempted to favor and coddle their big industry and the big
unions associated with it. Houston went for competition.
Both cities (and most of the country) had histories of racial strife.
Detroit unfortunately elected a leader in 1973, Mayor Coleman Young, who
stoked racial animosity rather than attempting to unify the city. This
accelerated the white flight (and capital flight) that had begun after the
1967 riots.
When the auto industry faced global competition starting in the 1970s,
Michigan and big auto sought protection from Japanese imports. President
Reagan extracted "voluntary" quotas from Japanese carmakers. The big three
were thus shielded from the consequences of their own bad labor and
management decisions. This permitted them to stagnate. They failed to adjust
to market pressures and have continued to collect government bailouts to
the present.
Michigan and Detroit used "targeted" tax credits and other incentives to
lure jobs to their region -- more than $3.3 billion over 15 years. The
government has often intervened to help favored industries -- condemning,
for example, 1,300 houses, 140 businesses, 6 churches and a hospital to make
way for a General Motors plant in the early 1980s. City and state taxes are
high, and strikes have damaged the school system.
Between 1900 and 1930, Detroit was the fastest growing city in the world.
Today, many of its buildings are abandoned. The illegitimacy rate is 80
percent. Half the city's population is functionally illiterate. During the
recent recession, the unemployment rate reached 30 percent. Detroit is one
of the most dangerous cities in America.
Houston roared to life as the oil capital of America. But because oil was
extracted by hundreds of independent operators, the industry never
consolidated as the auto industry had. Producers competed with one another,
and with the world, rather than colluding to get protection and special
breaks from the state.
Houston fell on hard times in the mid-1980s when oil prices suddenly
declined. Rather than intervene to protect the ailing industry, government
did nothing. Layoffs were massive and painful. Unemployment shot up to 9.3
percent. But within a couple of years, employment snapped back. Whereas
before the shock, oil had represented 80 percent of Houston's economy, it
dropped to 50 percent after. Left to its own devices, the economy
diversified, expanding to include computer makers, airlines, retailers,
utilities, food and grocery companies and medical centers. They were lured
not by special tax incentives or breaks from the government but by a low tax
environment, cost-conscious environmental regulation, right to work laws,
and tort reform.
During the first Obama term, fully half of all the jobs created in America
were created in Texas.
Senator Cruz mused that if government had been as intrusive in the early
20th century as it is now, the automobile itself would have been delayed. "
We would have been subsidizing all the buggy makers." When Democrats say
they have the answers, he advises to remember Detroit.
Mona Charen
Mona Charen is a syndicated columnist, political analyst and author of Do-
Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help . | a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 2 Newly minted Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke in his
characteristic fashion -- fluidly without notes or podium
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
干嘛强调这个？给O8看？
senator
(
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: 双城记－－向左转的底特律和向右转的休斯顿；1900-1930年间，底特律是全世界增长
: 最快的城市，今天那里非婚生子女比例是80%，半数人口处于文盲状态
: Tale of Two Cities
: By Mona Charen
: 1/29/2013
: It isn't often that you get reading suggestions from a United States senator
: , but that's what happened this past weekend for those who attended the
: National Review Institute's summit meeting in Washington, D.C.
: The three-day conclave, part election post-mortem and part revival meeting (
: that is, reviving conservatism and America), featured a bracing dose of
| P*********0
发帖数: 4321 | 3 你懂个球啊。这个Cruz 是古巴后裔。他强力为古巴人脚沾地就不能遣返的狗逼移民政
策辩护。
在他眼里，你就是一坨狗屎
senator
★ 发自iPhone App: ChineseWeb 7.8
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: 双城记－－向左转的底特律和向右转的休斯顿；1900-1930年间，底特律是全世界增长
: 最快的城市，今天那里非婚生子女比例是80%，半数人口处于文盲状态
: Tale of Two Cities
: By Mona Charen
: 1/29/2013
: It isn't often that you get reading suggestions from a United States senator
: , but that's what happened this past weekend for those who attended the
: National Review Institute's summit meeting in Washington, D.C.
: The three-day conclave, part election post-mortem and part revival meeting (
: that is, reviving conservatism and America), featured a bracing dose of
| k****g
发帖数: 1509 | 4 TMD, sounds like a loser from southwest of China. We don't have u this shit.
we r man up. Shit, get out of here. Moron dems
【在 P*********0 的大作中提到】
: 你懂个球啊。这个Cruz 是古巴后裔。他强力为古巴人脚沾地就不能遣返的狗逼移民政
: 策辩护。
: 在他眼里，你就是一坨狗屎
:
: senator
: ★ 发自iPhone App: ChineseWeb 7.8
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