blog purging, and AIG

Andrew,

Your recent purging of names from your blog roll brought to my mind a snarky response at first: "If those were AIG blogs, they'd be getting paid to stay in the Blog Love box."

But on second thought your action made me think that there is a better conservative response to the AIG bonuses: Why would any conservative want companies and employees to be locked into jobs that those employees aren't very good at? Isn't a conservative response to encourage job movement, so as to get people into jobs that they are good at? Like paying farmers not to grow food, saying that taxpayers need to pay to keep bad employees at AIG turns the free market on its head.

AIG (and their apologists) seem to be saying that the worst thing would be for those employees getting the bonuses to leave (presumably to competitors, though that's probably not true in the short term because of non-compete contracts and the crappy market for financial services workers anyway). I think giving financial services workers the opportunity to find work in other industries is probably the best thing, for them and us.

Fred

View from Your Church

Andrew,

Your letter writer is dead on when asking "where is the grace?" when it comes to the Catholic Church.

But grace comes from the Holy Spirit. And a Church which is infallible in "core" areas doesn't need the Holy Spirit anymore, do they?

Grace doesn't come from obedience. But power does. I suspect Pope Benedict understands the latter quite well, and has a well crafted agreement about the former.

Fred