Quotes of the day

May [Walter Cronkite] not be shocked to find some departed members of the Religion Right in heaven, and may he enjoy interviewing them there.--Douglas LeBlanc

The reason for these appeals to lasting unions is simple: on every single significant outcome related to short-term well-being and long-term success, children from intact, two-parent families outperform those from single-parent households. Longevity, drug abuse, school performance and dropout rates, teen pregnancy, criminal behavior and incarceration — if you can measure it, a sociologist has; and in all cases, the kids living with both parents drastically outperform the others. Few things hamper a child as much as not having a father at home.--Caitlin Flanagan

CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the United States, announced on Tuesday that it had lost a staggering 57 billion on its investments in fiscal year 2009 -- representing 23 percent of its total portfolio.--Andrew Leonard

... the job-destroying effects of minimum wages fall particularly hard on low-skilled adults in poor families.--David Neumark

If Medicare had not been passed, might this country have instituted universal health care coverage sometime in the 1970s?--Tyler Cowen

It's more expensive to park a car in Amsterdam ($805) or London ($1,020) for a month than to rent an apartment in Atlanta GA ($753).--Mark Perry

I respectfully disagree with President Obama that "empathy" is an important characteristic in a judge. Had the President said what I think he probably meant -- "patience" or "a willingness to listen and learn" -- I would have agreed. Judge Sotomayor has both in spades. But "empathy" is an empty standard. For example, a judge who always rules in favor of investment banks might have empathy for Wall Streeters; and, during the civil rights era, there were plenty of Southern apologists who described the working-class whites of the South as the truly oppressed in America.--Stephen Carter

If you want your negativity about someone to be heeded, be positive about them as often as possible. Otherwise you’re crying wolf.--Abraham Piper