competition is good for democracy and economies

This little blurb caught my eye from a recent story in the Bloomington Herald Times...

In the context of Baron welcoming Sen. Obama to the ninth district, his press secretary Katie Moreau said (quoting the article writer) that Baron thinks competition is good for democracy.

I'm glad to see that Baron welcomes a good stiff political challenge from me and Mike. I'm not sure he really enjoys it, but it's a nice line. And of course, he's correct-- political competition is a good thing. The thing is that none of us really likes competition for the things that we sell. So, it would be quite natural for him to say that competition is good, but not to like the competition that he faces.

Competition is also a good thing for economies. So, it's troubling to see Baron espouse subsidies for corporations, the monopoly power of the government schools, and so on.