Monthly Archives: January 2009

Karl Rove, man of substance

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The former political genius, now a diabolical lawn gnome, complains about President Obama’s office arrangements and work habits.

Like there are no real issues to tackle? This may be one of the early signs that absolutely nothing about the Obama administration is too insignificant for the right to attack. From the Wall Street Journal (thanks to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire).

Under Mr. Obama, the political director won’t be in the EEOB, where other presidents have placed him. He’ll occupy a West Wing office usually given to the head of presidential personnel. That’s a sign of the importance of politics for Team Obama.

This is one of many of Mr. Obama’s changes to the management structure of the White House that will likely undermine his stated aims and create a more centralized and possibly incoherent policy process.

Another first to have a West Wing office is the incoming secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle. Once sworn in, he will be the first domestic cabinet secretary to have a desk in the most coveted office space in government — to use in his other job as director of the White House Office of Health Reform.

This dual role centralizes policy-making inside the White House because it allows Mr. Daschle to displace the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council on developing health-care policy.

Tapping Carol Browner as climate czar also centralizes decision making. Her role will displace the leadership of the Council on Environmental Quality and diminish the influence of the Environmental Protection Agency….

Mr. Obama’s management decisions may lead to more intrusive, larger government policies gaining traction. Why? Because left-leaning aides will be unimpeded by the White House’s budget director or cabinet secretaries as they push new policies….

Mr. Obama’s tendency to work late into the night will also pose problems. Politico.com reports that the White House staff is “preparing for a return to long nights, heavy weekend shifts.” Requiring a senior staff that meets at 7:30 a.m. to work until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. will quickly cause burnout and diminish the quality of advice and oversight.

Transit $ added to stimulus; still swamped by highway spending

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The House of Representatives added $3 billion for transit spending on its way to passing the stimulus bill yesterday. raising the total to $12 billion.

That’s good news. Still, highway building gets $30 billion and it will be pumped through the traditional formulas, which simply do not work very well.

Will the feds ease the onerous rules on capital transit funding to allow the money to get spent in a way that might actually stimulate?

Some outstanding journalism

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The JS did the entire region a huge favor with paper’s two-part series on abuses in the child care system. Top-flight journalism was done here, offering an example of why a local newspaper is so vital to a community. Let’s see a blogger match that effort.

People who actually care about early childhood education have been watching this fiasco play out for years, recognizing that the system was designed to be defrauded, not to offer quality care.

It is too bad that so many records were withheld from the paper. It does not speak well of the system or the the state’s and local governments’ management of the system. What don’t they want the public to know? If those records contain personal information, can’t it be redacted and the records released?

If we don’t know what’s wrong, we can’t fix it. But then, maybe that’s the point.

Were there two Chili Bowls?

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Were there two Chili Bowls at Serb Hall on Sunday?

There was the wonderful event described in the JS that helped raise money for Second Harvest.

They came, they stirred, they mopped their brows. They went back for seconds.

It was a big chili party on a frigid day, but this was no warm-up for next week’s Super Bowl. And anyway, who cares about the Super Bowl? The Packers aren’t in it.

But you still have to eat, and so hundreds turned up Sunday afternoon for the third annual Chili Bowl at American Serb Hall, billed as Milwaukee’s biggest chili cookoff. More than 25 restaurants offered more than 60 kinds of chili (steak, vegan, martini-infused), and a chance at the coveted Golden Ladle, awarded by popular vote for favorite chili.

Then there was the event at Serb Hall that I attended. There was a crowd, as the JS reported, but the crowd I was in was way, way, too large for the room. Even moving was difficult, much less actually getting to the chili. Crowds of standing people formed a box around the fully-occupied tables in the center of the hall. If there had been a fire, there would have been a disaster. The place was just too crowded.

We were lucky in that we got there about 2 p.m. or so and actually were able to get some chili. I got four samples of the eight I paid for. We took a break from the chili lines because the crowd was so overwhelming. My sister told me that an employee of a participating restaurant expressed some dismay and displeasure at the underwhelming planning that went into the event.

Last year the crowd was not nearly as big, we were told, but advance ticket sales this year should have given a clue as to what was on hand. When we went back into the hall about 3 p.m., the chili was essentially gone. One restaurant was promising more in 20 minutes. The crowd was leaving, though. Too bad for anyone who paid for their ticket in advance but didn’t get to Serb Hall until after 3 p.m.  for this event that was supposed to last until 5 p.m.

It’s great that it was such a financial success, as surely it was. But it would be even nicer if it had been a success for the people who attended, even for those laggards who got there after 3 p.m.

Our gov: missing the point of stimulus

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Gov. Doyle announced that federal stimulus money will help speed the reconstruction of North-South I-94 from Illinois to Milwaukee.

Wow! And the net stimulus effect of that will be…zero.

The I-94 project already was going to be done. All Doyle is doing is replacing some state dollars with federal dollars. Big whoop.

Using stimulus money just to avoid using state money is not the point and will not move the economy forward. The governor should be spending money on needed projects and jobs that would not be otherwise done. Light rail construction, for example, or helping households and businesses throughout the state install energy-conserving windows and doors.

Doyle announced the clunkily named Office of Recovery and Reinvestment (to be run by white guys from Madison — what a refreshing idea) to help figure out how to spend the money. Let’s hope they come up with something that will actually make a difference.