Daily Archives: 07/24/2012

(Community Matters)  from this morning’s Playbook

FIRST LOOK – ONE OF THE YEAR’S DEEPEST BOOKS — “The NEW New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era,” by Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) – TIME senior national correspondent, author of “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise,” and alumnus of WashPost and Boston Globe – out Aug. 14 from Simon & Schuster – Grunwald explains why little-covered policy choices embedded in the stimulus law will long outlast this presidency: The “notional package” that Jason Furman, now principal deputy director of the White House’s National Economic Council, outlined for his boss during the transition included the crucial line, ” Stimulus as down payment on long-term goals.”

Grunwald writes: “Obama had done lots of talking about clean energy, health care, education, and infrastructure. Now he could do lots of spending. … Innovation doesn’t move in a straight line. Disruptive technologies can putter around the margins … for years … But if they get better or cheaper, at some point they can suddenly take off, challenging the status quo. And as they scale up, they get even cheaper. That’s what’s happening as solar power travels down the cost curve. … Solyndra was just a bump in the road to a clean-energy future, and we’re further down the road than most people realize. … Change isn’t always obvious. … Even before Obamacare, the Recovery Act started pushing the medical system in the directions Obama wanted it to go. …

“Vice President Biden was having a bit of fun at my expense, thanking me for my journalistic work as a Recovery Act cheerleader. ‘As you might guess, I’ve read your articles, because you’re the only guy that wrote anything remotely positive,’ he needled me. I’m generally more Debbie Downer than Little Mary Sunshine, and I told Biden this was unusual for me. He grinned. ‘I took ’em to bed, slept on ’em … ‘ We laughed. It was kind of funny because it was kind of true. At times, I did feel like I was writing about an alternative universe stimulus. … Good government is hard to quantify . It’s mostly a counterfactual achievement, measured by the lack of scandals and other flubs. …

“The new New Deal has not left an indelible mark on the national psyche the way the New Deal did. … Its iconic solar arrays and wind farms are in remote areas; its bullet trains are still question marks; its smarter grid and refundable tax cuts have mostly gone unnoticed. … The Recovery Act has already launched America on an inexorable course toward digital medicine and a digital grid, and helping to rescue the country from a second depression will always be part of its legacy as well. … Politically, the most obvious legacy of the stimulus is that politicians want nothing to do with ‘stimulus.’ … Obama still won’t say the S-word, and the bipartisan consensus for fiscal expansion during recessions has completely unraveled. … The ultimate legacy of the stimulus will be decided in 2012.” $17.32 on Amazon http://amzn.to/Kp8ZnD

(Community Matters) Frank Rich in the New York

I know there are lots of problems: economic, environmental, and with public education (though I contend the latter is getting better, public funding notwithstanding & for which I am working to help launch an important initiative). Sometimes problems get worse, sometimes better. I recall back stage at Grant Park almost 4 years ago – we all knew, we acknowledged, that this was gonna be a hard 4 years, there would be few heros, certainly not the president who had to govern during a deja vu of Hoover times. And, we were crying, shouting & happy – I’m not a cheerleader for American exceptionalism. That’s something others should say about us, not us about ourselves. Yet admittedly, in our states of elation, we were awed that the USA was among (if not the) first developed countries to elect a member of a minority as its chief executive officer.

Constant pessimistic drumming is aggravating, self destructive & too often allows us to feel we’re contributing to solutions while couch surfing.

(Community Matters) delayed birthday dinner – Steven, Kip Keller, Michael Barnes & moi) celebrating Kip’s 49th birthday. Great tomatoes from the garden made for a lovely French tomato tart from Kate Hill’s Culinary Journey in Gascony . . . not to mention the season’s fantastic peaches for a fresh baked galette served w/ home made vanilla ice cream. There was also lamb chops, halibut, crab cakes, sage roasted potatoes, asparagus and carrots – maybe a wee too much salt but good all around. And the  wines a la Wren Cottage: a 2006 Goldenage Pinot Noir and a 2007 Williamson Cabaernet.