That's Capital

What's the beef, where's the pork?

I keep listening to media pundits and Republican commentators bemoan the nature of this stimulus plan, and the way it's being formulated. I keep waiting for someone to actually articulate - with specificity - what's actually so wasteful. Outside of Lou Dobb's branded sell-the-anger nightly rant last night (at least his hit an actual target - in that case the 660 million going to further the push of analog to digital television adoption), I've yet to hear anything except boilerplate.

The sound and fury is all about the principles. "We're going socialist," kind of rallying cries. Or Jeffrey Sach's worried brow about not spending enough. Typical was John Dickerson in Slate, bemoaning Obama's lack of management transparency. Dickerson's argument reminded me of the definitiveness of Walter Shapiro's post-Obama press conference New Republic piece, its fancy headline "Color Me Unimpressed" the most impressive thing in the glory of way too many paragraphs.

But helpful was a fun read, also in Slate, called When Sharks Don't Bite. As someone who periodically picks up a surfboard, I love shark stories. The piece pointed out that the closest thing to shark repellant are electrical devices that send out waves to prevent them from coming close. What it didn't mention are electronic stun sticks, even better to scare these often  misaligned creatures of the deep. Anyway, that piece made me think that many of the pundits and Republicans criticizing the president are so lamely blathering on and on because they feel so completely zapped.

Then again, what they really remind me of are children of parent who are going through a hellish period, the kids whining and pulling tantrums for not getting the extra helping of desert or toy they wanted, underneath just yearning for attention from adults who are a bit frantic trying to solve other issues. For all the fury being sung, what they keep reminding me is we're in really bad straits here and all they really want to do is nitpick. I'm all for unmasking the Emperor without clothes, but please help me align my vision, guys. In such a period where you need to act fast, do they really think all stars will line up to elegant perfection? I wish. I don't count on it. Obama's task reminds me of the phrase shared by disaster management experts; "perfect is the enemy of good enough." We're in a disaster. We have no time for perfect.

Please, someone... anyone with the resources... graph out the stimulus plan good and bad for us. That would be awfully helpful. I know it just passed but if there were so many people yakking about its drawbacks, you'd think we could already heard exactly what they are.

Here's my contribution to the general graphing from the little I've seen - from today's NYTimes.

Although the final legislative language was not immediately available, lawmakers said the bill contained more than $150 billion in public works projects for transportation, energy and technology, and $87 billion to help states meet rising Medicaid costs.

Despite intense lobbying by governors around the country, the final deal slashed $25 billion from a proposed state fiscal stabilization fund, eliminated a $16 billion line item for school construction and sharply curtailed spending to provide health insurance for the unemployed.

In driving down the total cost — from $838 billion for the Senate stimulus bill and $820 billion for the House-passed measure — lawmakers also reduced the Senate’s proposed tax incentives for buyers of homes and cars, which hold big public appeal.

The final agreement retained a $70 billion tax break to spare millions of middle-income Americans from paying the alternative minimum tax in 2009. Some Democrats decried the provision as a costly addition that would not lift the economy and that Congress would have approved, regardless of the recession.

Forward

Listen to Tom Ricks interviewed by another Tom on Onpoint today. I wasn't a big fan of Ricks when listening to him on news shows a few years ago. But that was because he seemed stridently critical of Israel. I'm no strident supporter of Israel, but his smile was smug as he described Israeli generals consciously creating civilian focused havoc in the 2006 Lebanon War. I simply didn't believe him.

In retrospect, the Winograd Commission seemed to paint a portrait of another stunningly bad government going blindly into a war that was brutal, and worse, for all the brutality left its enemies in some ways better off than when it started. Whatever. Ricks is fascinating in tracking how the American military recruited the aid of several foreign born pacifists to help lead the so-called surge in Iraq, winning their respect as an institutution superior to the country they served, our's.

Most interesting was listening to Americans, several coming out of the military or having sons in service, criticizing Ricks' belief that we should continue to stay in Iraq far beyond 2010. Again, as with Obama's presidential press conference, the basic intelligence of the discussion from both sides left me feeling this country is emerging from a fog, proving home to a majority of people who are decent, thoughtful, and capable of acting as the beacon to the world we once were.  Not because "we're better" but because we have a society and infrastructures that supports robust dialogue, innovation, and the courage to wrestle with hard issues.

Yeah, we have our share of crooks, fools and bigots. But having traveled a fair amount of the world, it seems to me that God granted us no greater abundance of such gifts. All to say that despite all the bad news, my sense is this nation can still do great things. Maybe that's just because I have work, and work with great people. But listen to Ricks. He doesn't say anything Hollywood would classify as "hopeful," but it's oddly uplifting.

Obama's first press conference

Though I've felt uncomfortable with his choice of Tim Geitner (head of the IRS not paying taxes - just on symbolism it's a stain at a time when symbolism matters), but listening to Obama handle questions generates a confidence and... relief... that's the only word that captures it, that I haven't felt for years about those in power. In fact, looking back over my lifetime, this is the first time I have listened to any president who seems to actually answer questions directly, clearly, and with  magnanimity. He's a genuine leader, the best at the level I've ever seen. To paraphrase his wife, his presence makes me proud to be American.

Early today on the radio I heard two creepy talk show hosts ask listeners to compete around answering the question that if the president and his vice-president somehow disappeared, who would take over. Perhaps I should feel ashamed for having a fondness for listening to right wing radio for spots of honesty in humor and/or emotion. Whatever. It spooked me. Let's focus on what we have and not on the small minded fear mongers or just fear-focused who would poison hope and dialogue. We're lucky to have this man at the helm. Leaders bring out the good in others. Hey, he just called on a reporter from the Huffington Post. Could you imagine that from Bush?

Just remember from where we came. Here's a little to remember that by.