You Could Lay A Billion Economists End to End And Still Not Reach Such a Stupid Conclusion

Just last week, Poor and Stupid author Don Lufkin was fretting that Howell Raines' wild-eyed liberalism would destroy the New York Times goodwill and drain the Sulzbergers' family coffers. The supply-side psuedo-economist looked into his Magic 8-Ball and predicted financial ruin for the paper's Chairman and Publisher:

And that's the guy [Sulzberger] who has to be worrying that maybe the critics are right, and that maybe for the sake of pursuing "liberal positions" he's letting Raines systematically destroy the brand equity of a once-great newspaper. And the Sulzberger family's wealth along with it.

So it's not Andrew Sullivan or Mickey Kaus -- or even me -- to whom Raines is speaking from the podium at the National Press Foundation. He doesn't even know we exist. He's talking to the boss. He's trying to convince Sulzberger that the freedom to have an egregious liberal bias is a "legacy we must protect with our diligent stewardship." No matter how much it costs.

But hey, it's only money....

How many billions will the Sulzberger family have to lose before they get tired of "justifying their existence" this way?

I hope Donny Dorko didn't lose too much sleep over the demise of the Sulzberger family fortune. According to Yahoo! Finance/Reuters, Sulzberger received a bonus of $1.5 million because earnings of the New York Times Company "'substantially exceeded' targets" in 2002:

"Annual bonuses are paid only if financial targets are achieved," the newspaper publisher said in its annual report to shareholders. "The 2002 earnings per share targets, which were used to determine annual bonuses for Mr. Sulzberger, Jr. and Mr. Lewis, were substantially exceeded."

Sulzberger also received a base salary of $950,000 and a shitload of other compensation, for a total package of about $6 million. So I don't expect to see Sulzberger crying over lost billions anytime soon.

Of course, maybe Donald has some inside information that theTimes Co. is just another Enron or Worldcom, propped up by sham accounting and about ready to collapse, all because of Howell's support for gender inclusive golf clubs and the United Nations. Or maye Don's just a bitter, irrational twerp.