Meeting Dave Barry

Tonight I met Dave Barry, the humor columnist. He's one of my favorite writers and was doing a book signing in Arlington Virginia for his new kids book. I always enjoyed his writing, and then I read this from Reason. I learned that Barry takes swipes at the government so adroitly because he’s a libertarian. And he seems to have a basic economic knowledge, unlike almost everyone in Washington.

Reason: In your column I detect a certain skepticism at the notion that congressional spending creates jobs.
Barry:: Of all the wonderful things government says, that's always been just about my favorite. As opposed to if you get to keep the money. Because what you'll do is go out and bury it in your yard, anything to prevent that money from creating jobs. They never stop saying it. They say it with a straight face and we in the press will write that down. We will say, "This is expected to create x number of jobs." On the other hand, we never say that the money we removed from another part of the economy will kill some jobs.

After getting Dave to sign a book of his I have, I went to see Jim Bovard, Jesse Walker from Reason, and some old guy debate if we have the government we deserve because we keep electing these fools and put up with their antics. It was an interesting debate, even showing up an hour late because I went to the Dave Barry book signing. I think the conclusion was that we are partly responsible, but not completely. (And when I say we, I mean not me. I’ve never voted.)