The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.
Mencius
Obama's Sales Pitch: Infrastructure v. 2.0
One of my pet peeves is getting a disingenuous sales pitch for a public policy. I think this was most clearly illustrated in the famous 2008 Obama take on disaffected small town voters in Pennsylvania or the Midwest:
And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.He was befuddled: after all, he was offering every middle-class family a chicken from the rich man's pot. Order anything you like from the public policy menu: that top 1% accounting for 40% of the government revenue (although earning less than 40% of the national income) should pay for it. There is only a modest price for this: you have to give me your vote. I think most of us learn the lesson early in life there is no such thing as a free lunch, and people can intentionally mislead people about what they are doing, like Barack Obama was by posing as a "moderate" during the 2008 general election campaign.
[In my case, I was attending a Catholic elementary school in Panama City, Florida. I think I was in second grade; there was this school rummage sale. I scraped together some birthday money, maybe a very modest allowance, determined to do some treasure hunting. There was this fast-talking kid (probably a fifth or sixth-grader) selling a used small-scale snow cone machine, and I eagerly bought it based on his misleading sales pitch. It turned out to be an unusable piece of junk, but, as they say, "all sales are final." I don't know what would motivate someone to give away junk to a fundraiser, never mind taking advantage of a little kid, but I learned a lesson. And I'm sure the kid today must be running some used car lot in northwestern Florida...]
In particular, I disdain the way people try to sell dubious policy, like the legalization of marijuana, by promoting excise tax income from the sales. [I'm not using this post to open up Pandora's box of drug legalization; it's relevant given the misguided current California proposition, which I oppose. I understand the conservative/libertarian arguments for legalization, but I am concerned about public safety and other issues, various other social costs (e.g., a baby affected by her mother's substance abuse problems) and believe some of the more egregious issues can be addressed by relevant reforms.]
So here comes Obama, once again selling infrastructure. I'm more annoyed at the arguments being used; remember, for instance, how Obama tried to shame us into rising up to the challenge of, say, Chinese leadership in some green energy segments? We see the same types of arguments being advanced here, comparing the RELATIVE percentages of national budgets (while we have, for example, a $14.5T economy)--and don't get me started on government make-work gimmicks and misleading economic multipliers. Let me say there are some serious problems--that just like federal politicians have been passing the buck to future generations regarding entitlement reforms and the national debt, local and state officials have failed to invest in, say, replacing 75-year-old water pipe systems or an obsoleted national grid system that is a rolling blackout waiting to happen time and again.
I will agree with Obama on a couple of things: first, there are serious problems of underinvestment in America's infrastructure; second, I don't like infrastructure projects getting decided in political backrooms or through Congressional earmark policies.
But there are several differences, from my perspective. First, I want a sustained commitment, in conjunction with (but not displacing) states and local governments. We cannot have a boom/bust mentality, where people remember infrastructure only during recessions, but a long-term commitment will attract the private sector. Second, I want a full accounting of unspent infrastructure money from Obama's first stimulus package. Third, I don't want dubious politically-oriented projects, e.g., "clean energy investments" or operationally-infeasible high-speed rail lines. Fourth, I don't like the way the Obama Administration is looking to pay for the bill by effectively passing targeted tax increases (e.g., by limiting business deductions to oil & gas companies); any funding commitment should be broad-based in nature, not involving the government picking winners and losers.
Paladino: Stick a Fork in It: He's Done...
I had serious misgivings about Carl Paladino, the GOP nominee for New York governor, given the recent incident involving his threats to New York Post reporter Fred Dicker (although I also have concerns about Dicker's lack of professionalism as well). But now in an election which should be focused on New York's serious government financial issues, jobs and the economy, Paladino, who has a mistress whom raises their 10-year-old daughter, decides to lecture gay people on their lifestyle and attacks Cuomo for participating in a gay pride parade with his own daughters? (I don't like kids being used as campaign props, but I don't have a problem with Cuomo as a father teaching his kids to be tolerant of people as individuals.)
What a choice: Andrew Cuomo or Carl Paladino. (Sing with Paul Simon's melody to "Mrs. Robinson": "Where have you gone, George Pataki? A state turns its lonely eyes to you...") If I was a New York resident, I would vote for Rick Lazio. Or write in Rudy Giuliani.
Political Humor
"President Obama has decided not to sign a bill that would make it difficult for homeowners to fight foreclosure. Why is Obama all of a sudden so sensitive about people being kicked out of their house. Oh yeah, right" –Jimmy Fallon
[A number of Democratic incumbents in the House of Representatives are about to be served eviction notices. President Obama, consider the mid-term election your two-year notice...]
"Here in California we also have a bit of a scandal. Jerry Brown was leaving a message on somebody's phone line and he thought he hung up, but he didn't. And then you can hear somebody say, 'Meg Whitman is a whore.' You know, some candidates have trouble with the Internet, Facebook, or Twitter. Jerry is still getting the hang of the phone." –Bill Maher
[Attorney General Jerry Brown was outraged at the unauthorized recording of a confidential conversation between a lawyer and his
Some prostitutes are incensed at being associated with the world's second oldest profession; others want a peek at the billionaire's little black book...
Complimentary quote of the day: It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. - Ronald Reagan]
Musical Interlude: The "British Invasion" of the 1960's Series
Cream, "Sunshine of Your Love"
