Video: Imagine if the federal government had a monopoly on cell phones
posted at 2:01 pm on May 17, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
An amusing moment from yesterday’s speech in Iowa on the economy, in which Mitt Romney explains the difference between R&D in the public and private sectors. All you really need to know is the history of technological innovation in the 30 or so years since the breakup of the AT&T monopoly, but Romney’s parable is both less exhausting and more entertaining. See if this evokes Get Smart for you, too:
Jim Pethokoukis supplies a little more of the speech than the clip shows, including a killer line at the end:
During my time in business and in state government, I came to see the economy as having three big players – the private sector, the states and localities and the federal government.
Of these three, the private sector is by far the most efficient and cost effective. That’s because scores of businesses and thousands of entrepreneurs are competing every day to find a way to deliver a product or a service that is better than anyone else’s. Think about smart phones. Blackberry got things going. Then Apple introduced the iPhone. Now the Android platform leads the market. In the world of free enterprise, competition brings us better and better products at lower and lower cost. Innovate and change or you go out of business. And the customer — us — benefits. …
Imagine if the federal government was the sole legal supplier of cell phones. First, they’d still be under review, with hearings in Congress. When finally approved, the contract to make them would go to an Obama donor. They’d be the size of a shoe, with a collapsible solar panel. And campaign donors would be competing to become the all-powerful app czar.
My point is this: As President Obama and old-school liberals absorb more and more of our economy into government, they make what we do more expensive, less efficient and less useful. They make America less competitive. They make government more expensive.
What President Obama is doing is not bold; it’s old.
Don’t forget that the federal government is in the cellphone distribution business — and its results underscore Romney’s argument.
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I wonder if Obama is envious?
pat on May 15, 2013 at 9:25 PM
Obama can offer some tips on how to jump start a country..
No..
Seriously..
Electrongod on May 15, 2013 at 9:25 PM
Maybe it is time to look at the Socialist Ideology behind their economic policies…?
Seven Percent Solution on May 15, 2013 at 9:26 PM
Guess I’d better get rid of those euros that I have left from my trip to Ireland in March, eh?
Bob's Kid on May 15, 2013 at 9:26 PM
BREAKING:
Other People’s money runs out; EU in decline.
BobMbx on May 15, 2013 at 9:27 PM
I wonder if Obama knows.
Well, it is on the news so there’s a chance.
BobMbx on May 15, 2013 at 9:28 PM
Huh, maybe someone should’ve warned them or something.
squint on May 15, 2013 at 9:33 PM
As Maggie Thatcher was wont to say, “Sooner or later they run out of other peoples money.”
Screw the EU…
Scrumpy on May 15, 2013 at 9:36 PM
…JugEars:like everything else…”I first learned about this…from news reports…like everybody else!”
KOOLAID2 on May 15, 2013 at 9:41 PM
Once upon a time, America had an economy strong enough to lead the world out of recessions.
Then, Progressives came along and America changed.
MTF on May 15, 2013 at 9:46 PM
Hmmmm…..seems all that “free stuff” in the EU wasn’t “free” after all.
Is Barry taking notes?
GarandFan on May 15, 2013 at 9:48 PM
You know it is time for personal intervention when you are reading about economics and politics on HA while the tornado sirens are blaring outside.
Limerick on May 15, 2013 at 9:49 PM
This isn’t good for North America, either.
rickv404 on May 15, 2013 at 9:50 PM
They need a real federal system like we have in the US. That way, the left can screw around until Mercedes looks like GM and Germany goes the way of Michigan.
Then they blame the Swiss or British investors and bankers.
They don’t have our racism but with a little imagination they can whip up a decent copy in reliving wars or soccer games which didn’t work out like they wanted. Ok, it is lame but their version of a Harley sounds like a sewing machine, anyway.
IlikedAUH2O on May 15, 2013 at 9:59 PM
The only way for the Euroweenies to get out of these awful economic doldrums is to raise taxes.
SparkPlug on May 15, 2013 at 9:59 PM
Downward spiral? Wait till they hit Barock bottom.
SparkPlug on May 15, 2013 at 10:00 PM
Green shoots!!
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on May 15, 2013 at 10:02 PM
I find this bit of “news” interesting because there was never much popular support for the EU. They had to stop holding referenda for their retarded Constitution because it went down in flames the few times it was tried (so they then snuck it in by calling it the Lisbon TREATY, instead … and as a TREATY it didn’t need a plebiscite … yup).
Maybe support has dipped even further but the EU was never able to withstand any popular vote. Heck, in Britain they made a sport of intentionally not letting anyone vote on anything about it.
All that said, Eurotrash is just doing what Eurotrash does … killing themselves and destroying everything within arm’s length of them. They’ve been pulling this destructive suicidal junk for almost a century, now.
Let us not forget that Barky was always a bigger hit in Europe than he ever was, here. Heck, the biggest political rally (possibly in history) was Barky’s illegal, un-Constitutional, un-American and offensive Berlin rally for Germans. Barky never should have been allowed to return to the US after that. The Eurotrash loved him … they should have been forced to keep the retard.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on May 15, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Can I buy Spain yet on Ebay?
Capitalist Hog on May 15, 2013 at 10:11 PM
How long before they change the EU to eewwww?
socalcon on May 15, 2013 at 11:00 PM
Just as a technical reminder – European GDP estimates are not annualized, so if one wants to compare it to what the BEA puts out there, multiply by 4 to get a close-enough-for-government-work approximation. That makes the overall rate -0.8%, and Germany’s rate +0.4%, on an annualized basis.
As for the continued German support for the pEU, they must be thinking that Brussels is once again in Greater Germany.
Steve Eggleston on May 15, 2013 at 11:26 PM
S&H is going to kill you.
trigon on May 15, 2013 at 11:47 PM
Totally agreed!!
jimver on May 16, 2013 at 2:10 AM
If we had accurate data, instead of politically massaged propaganda, we would see Europe is not alone.
dogsoldier on May 16, 2013 at 8:02 AM
Not yet. But I wouldn’t say it’s impossible that we’ll see such a thing in our lifetimes.
We’re getting a front-row seat at the final stages of what happens to nations that subscribe to some moronic liberal sing-around-the-campfire version of international unity, with a generous dose of economic socialism used in the recipe.
MelonCollie on May 16, 2013 at 8:14 AM