Maybe after the next election, mid-terms, is a disaster, they might have a conversation. Doubt any real significant change till at least 2032. We are in complete agreement. My idea of a Democrat is still Robert Kennedy, Attorney General, for all his faults, he was willing to both learn and be open to other views, something that is sadly missing in today's Democrat Party.
I couldn’t be more pleased to be a paying subscriber now, Joe.
The challenges are pretty severe, inasmuch as the MAGAtts, with their sham “populism,” seem intent in drawing from the worst of the left and the right. But the answer to bad vaccine policy isn’t no-vaccines. The answer to avaricious labor unions isn’t no labor unions. The answer to wildly bloated military and intelligence budgets isn’t to put incompetents in charge, nor to privatize it under Peter Thiel or Elon Musk.
Which leads to something else you’ve written about eloquently: the Dems also have a severe communications problem - an inability to talk the language of normal human beings, and (as you’ve written correctly about Biden and his failed Presidency) an unwillingness to sell, sell, sell not just the things they want to do, but the things they’ve already done.
I like Shapiro and agree with what he did. However just about any government leader would do the same under the circumstances. Of course, as a politician, he was more than willing to overhype this, which is fine, but it was nothing extraordinary.
There are a gazillion unfinished projects around the country that say you're wrong. Chances are Shapiro BROKE THE LAW to get the job done--let's see if anyone has the guts to sue him.
Really? Name a million of them that involved the loss of a major transportation link. Hell, name five. Shapiro probably did break the law but so would any other governor. That's when they are their most useful.
Define major. Between me and JFK airport, it took nearly a decade to fix the Hutchinson River Parkway through Pelham--and the Van Wyck "expressway" has been under construction for most of my life. Any little highway bridge, reduced to one lane, is "major" if you're on the wrong side of it.
My point is that the Pennsylvania situation was an emergency and most government executives have the power to take extraordinary measures after declaring an emergency. I live on the West coast so don't know anything about the projects you mention, buy they don't seem like emergencies to me. And I could cite some beauties out here that are comparable, but maybe not a gazillion. Broadly you're right. a lot of stupid rules make it harder and harder to do these jobs. But Shapiro's response was typical and appropriate under the circumstances. And just about any governor would do the same so I don't think he merits the praise he gets. I like him, the stupid Democrats should have run him instead of unqualified Kamala but he didn't do anything special is all I'm saying.
Bravo. Excellent recitation of Blue governance. Dems desperately need a political Martin Luther to lead a Reformation. The days of tweaking around the edges, are long gone.
As a former quarter century Golden Stater, it feels as if the last 4 years have been spent, inexplicably, attempting to nationalize CA government, as if it is something, that should be replicated. The poor LA school children, who recently watched their schools burn, previously suffered nearly 2 years of unnecessary, Covid remote learning. Now it will be years more, before their schools are rebuilt. More remote learning will be the default, because school employees will veto any building that could be repurposed as a school, as too far to travel. Once again the children will lose, because they lack a Union or a functioning government.
The LA fires should not have surprised any CA resident, who has been paying attention, but the rest of the country should understand, the circumstances before the death and destruction. 7 days before the fire, the National Weather Service issued its' highest fire risk warning. 2 days later, the LA Mayor declared a State of Emergency and boarded a plane to Ghana. Newsom was busy organizing and funding his Trump Resistance.
In the 5 intervening days, no one warned residents they may be required to evacuate or to protect their own homes, because fire departments might be overwhelmed. The WSJ published an essay by a long time Malibu resident who saved his older wooden home with fire retardant gel, and religiously, removing brush in his yard. The old surfer next door, taught him what materials were necessary and what preventive measures, would give his home, the best chance of survival. If a Malibu surfer knows how to protect homes, why, doesn't the CA State government?
Fires and schools are hardly the only failure of Blue Rule in CA, or nationally, but perhaps a term out of power, will bring needed change. Maybe priorities, other than loathing Trump, will arise.
Public unions, with whom I have been dealing for forty years, comprise a challenge but are not the heart of the problem. Certainly, in any major city there is a temptation to bend to their Will - in order to win elective office, most people need to win (usually crowded) Democratic primaries and in circumstances such as those the attraction of controllable blocs -which unions are purported to be- is overwhelming. Politicians need to learn that the cost in substandard services is not worth the prize.
The real problem, however, is not the workers but the advocates for education, the homeless, housing, transit, what have you. They tend not to want “better” but rather just “more.” Politicians get beat up when they impose cuts made necessary by burgeoning deficits when their ongoing focus should be getting bang for the buck.
Despite your excessive crankiness, Joe, you are right that nothing exhibits this dysfunction like education. Here, the confounding disconnect between resources allocated and results obtained is an indictment of the whole idea that expertise matters. Impoverished New Orleans is one thing, how is it that the supposed geniuses of Boston (or New York or San Francisco or LA) cannot produce an acceptable public school system? I know most people in this world are well meaning but their inability to identify bad ideas (like the recent de-emphasis on phonics, now being corrected, but way too late) or recognize good ones (the need develop team building skills, discussed here last week) is, well, deplorable.
This time in the wilderness for the Democrats is an opportunity, possibly the last one, to look hard at the services they purport to champion and make as many corrections as they can. At the end of the day, the only thing that will end the populist wave of resentment is demonstrable evidence that life in the blue states is, in fact, better. Until then, the war continues.
Great analysis, Joe! I am happy that I resubscribed; you have excellent perspective and can articulate problems so clearly… why doesn’t anyone in your party listen to you? That is proxy for a real problem with the Democratic Party; as is the fact that if you see an American flag displayed on a vehicle, a ranch house, or anywhere else, you can be certain that this person is not a Democrat!
As a 100% Trumper, this article clearly shines a light on how the Democrat's could be successful. My advice. Don't do it Democrats. The last thing we want is a decent competitor.
Thank you. The public employee union issue is as destructive as identity politics in its own way. Although maybe I don't fully agree with Philip Howard (Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions), that public unions are unconstitutional (I broadly agree with Peter Schuck https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2023/06/Peter-Schuck-vf1.pdf), the effect on Democrats' credibility will only get worse with time as the pension and resulting tax issues become overwhelming, driving people out of cities. Ok, so unions are not the oil industry, responsible for global warming, but it's not hard to see the connection between the troubles in New York, Chicago and LA these days and the over- and misallocation of public money there - and the ulitmate effect on where people will ultimately choose to live.
While I am certainly an advocate of making public employees more efficient, is it not true that the problem with many American cities is that too many people want to move there? The chief complaint in New York (and LA and full-in the-blank) is that the rent is too damn high. The problem is that too much of this nation (mostly run by Republicans) is so unpromising and unsupportive that the cities attract as many as they do.
Pretty much hit the nail on the head about useless government employees protected by useless unions. I was a senior manager in government (local-big city) for some 20 years and can only say amen. Couple of points and a couple of quibbles: Point 1 - a lot of outsourcing the government uses is actually an end run around these useless folks and Point 2 - unions don't have to be this way, a one point in my career I managed employees represented by construction unions. Whole different world, both the union and the employees were committed to our mission.
Quibble 1 - Comparing New York City to Florida is meaningless. Different structures different environment. My observation is that Florida residents bitch about their government much more than New Yorkers for example and Quibble 2 - very disappointed that you seem to want to join the chorus of right wing nut jobs eager to blame the LA fires on politicians. The idea is flat out wrong and dangerous. I actually think they would have been worse under a Republican government but that's just speculation of course.
Given your connections to London, may I recommend a piece by Jason Cowley in today’s London Sunday Times profiling a young Labour MP called Dan Carden? I doubt Starmer’s facile Administration will pay him much attention. They seem as tone deaf as the DNC and Reform is the UK’s MAGA.
100 percent.
The D.N.C.has just hired Kamala Harris’ communications team en masse—because, you know, they did such a great job. Unbelievable.
Maybe after the next election, mid-terms, is a disaster, they might have a conversation. Doubt any real significant change till at least 2032. We are in complete agreement. My idea of a Democrat is still Robert Kennedy, Attorney General, for all his faults, he was willing to both learn and be open to other views, something that is sadly missing in today's Democrat Party.
I couldn’t be more pleased to be a paying subscriber now, Joe.
The challenges are pretty severe, inasmuch as the MAGAtts, with their sham “populism,” seem intent in drawing from the worst of the left and the right. But the answer to bad vaccine policy isn’t no-vaccines. The answer to avaricious labor unions isn’t no labor unions. The answer to wildly bloated military and intelligence budgets isn’t to put incompetents in charge, nor to privatize it under Peter Thiel or Elon Musk.
Which leads to something else you’ve written about eloquently: the Dems also have a severe communications problem - an inability to talk the language of normal human beings, and (as you’ve written correctly about Biden and his failed Presidency) an unwillingness to sell, sell, sell not just the things they want to do, but the things they’ve already done.
Josh Shapiro has heard you and says it all in "get shit done." And you just laid out the case for it
I like Shapiro and agree with what he did. However just about any government leader would do the same under the circumstances. Of course, as a politician, he was more than willing to overhype this, which is fine, but it was nothing extraordinary.
There are a gazillion unfinished projects around the country that say you're wrong. Chances are Shapiro BROKE THE LAW to get the job done--let's see if anyone has the guts to sue him.
Really? Name a million of them that involved the loss of a major transportation link. Hell, name five. Shapiro probably did break the law but so would any other governor. That's when they are their most useful.
Define major. Between me and JFK airport, it took nearly a decade to fix the Hutchinson River Parkway through Pelham--and the Van Wyck "expressway" has been under construction for most of my life. Any little highway bridge, reduced to one lane, is "major" if you're on the wrong side of it.
My point is that the Pennsylvania situation was an emergency and most government executives have the power to take extraordinary measures after declaring an emergency. I live on the West coast so don't know anything about the projects you mention, buy they don't seem like emergencies to me. And I could cite some beauties out here that are comparable, but maybe not a gazillion. Broadly you're right. a lot of stupid rules make it harder and harder to do these jobs. But Shapiro's response was typical and appropriate under the circumstances. And just about any governor would do the same so I don't think he merits the praise he gets. I like him, the stupid Democrats should have run him instead of unqualified Kamala but he didn't do anything special is all I'm saying.
Bravo. Excellent recitation of Blue governance. Dems desperately need a political Martin Luther to lead a Reformation. The days of tweaking around the edges, are long gone.
As a former quarter century Golden Stater, it feels as if the last 4 years have been spent, inexplicably, attempting to nationalize CA government, as if it is something, that should be replicated. The poor LA school children, who recently watched their schools burn, previously suffered nearly 2 years of unnecessary, Covid remote learning. Now it will be years more, before their schools are rebuilt. More remote learning will be the default, because school employees will veto any building that could be repurposed as a school, as too far to travel. Once again the children will lose, because they lack a Union or a functioning government.
The LA fires should not have surprised any CA resident, who has been paying attention, but the rest of the country should understand, the circumstances before the death and destruction. 7 days before the fire, the National Weather Service issued its' highest fire risk warning. 2 days later, the LA Mayor declared a State of Emergency and boarded a plane to Ghana. Newsom was busy organizing and funding his Trump Resistance.
In the 5 intervening days, no one warned residents they may be required to evacuate or to protect their own homes, because fire departments might be overwhelmed. The WSJ published an essay by a long time Malibu resident who saved his older wooden home with fire retardant gel, and religiously, removing brush in his yard. The old surfer next door, taught him what materials were necessary and what preventive measures, would give his home, the best chance of survival. If a Malibu surfer knows how to protect homes, why, doesn't the CA State government?
Fires and schools are hardly the only failure of Blue Rule in CA, or nationally, but perhaps a term out of power, will bring needed change. Maybe priorities, other than loathing Trump, will arise.
Public unions, with whom I have been dealing for forty years, comprise a challenge but are not the heart of the problem. Certainly, in any major city there is a temptation to bend to their Will - in order to win elective office, most people need to win (usually crowded) Democratic primaries and in circumstances such as those the attraction of controllable blocs -which unions are purported to be- is overwhelming. Politicians need to learn that the cost in substandard services is not worth the prize.
The real problem, however, is not the workers but the advocates for education, the homeless, housing, transit, what have you. They tend not to want “better” but rather just “more.” Politicians get beat up when they impose cuts made necessary by burgeoning deficits when their ongoing focus should be getting bang for the buck.
Despite your excessive crankiness, Joe, you are right that nothing exhibits this dysfunction like education. Here, the confounding disconnect between resources allocated and results obtained is an indictment of the whole idea that expertise matters. Impoverished New Orleans is one thing, how is it that the supposed geniuses of Boston (or New York or San Francisco or LA) cannot produce an acceptable public school system? I know most people in this world are well meaning but their inability to identify bad ideas (like the recent de-emphasis on phonics, now being corrected, but way too late) or recognize good ones (the need develop team building skills, discussed here last week) is, well, deplorable.
This time in the wilderness for the Democrats is an opportunity, possibly the last one, to look hard at the services they purport to champion and make as many corrections as they can. At the end of the day, the only thing that will end the populist wave of resentment is demonstrable evidence that life in the blue states is, in fact, better. Until then, the war continues.
Great analysis, Joe! I am happy that I resubscribed; you have excellent perspective and can articulate problems so clearly… why doesn’t anyone in your party listen to you? That is proxy for a real problem with the Democratic Party; as is the fact that if you see an American flag displayed on a vehicle, a ranch house, or anywhere else, you can be certain that this person is not a Democrat!
As a 100% Trumper, this article clearly shines a light on how the Democrat's could be successful. My advice. Don't do it Democrats. The last thing we want is a decent competitor.
Thank you. The public employee union issue is as destructive as identity politics in its own way. Although maybe I don't fully agree with Philip Howard (Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions), that public unions are unconstitutional (I broadly agree with Peter Schuck https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2023/06/Peter-Schuck-vf1.pdf), the effect on Democrats' credibility will only get worse with time as the pension and resulting tax issues become overwhelming, driving people out of cities. Ok, so unions are not the oil industry, responsible for global warming, but it's not hard to see the connection between the troubles in New York, Chicago and LA these days and the over- and misallocation of public money there - and the ulitmate effect on where people will ultimately choose to live.
While I am certainly an advocate of making public employees more efficient, is it not true that the problem with many American cities is that too many people want to move there? The chief complaint in New York (and LA and full-in the-blank) is that the rent is too damn high. The problem is that too much of this nation (mostly run by Republicans) is so unpromising and unsupportive that the cities attract as many as they do.
Poor David Remnick. He is so disappointed in all of us. We really don't deserve him.
You tell them, Joe. But you and I know they won’t listen. Grievance politics has run out its string.
Get your party shoes on! See you next week,
Nailed it. Boy, I sure am glad I became a subscriber!
My feelings exactly! I love Joe!
Pretty much hit the nail on the head about useless government employees protected by useless unions. I was a senior manager in government (local-big city) for some 20 years and can only say amen. Couple of points and a couple of quibbles: Point 1 - a lot of outsourcing the government uses is actually an end run around these useless folks and Point 2 - unions don't have to be this way, a one point in my career I managed employees represented by construction unions. Whole different world, both the union and the employees were committed to our mission.
Quibble 1 - Comparing New York City to Florida is meaningless. Different structures different environment. My observation is that Florida residents bitch about their government much more than New Yorkers for example and Quibble 2 - very disappointed that you seem to want to join the chorus of right wing nut jobs eager to blame the LA fires on politicians. The idea is flat out wrong and dangerous. I actually think they would have been worse under a Republican government but that's just speculation of course.
Given your connections to London, may I recommend a piece by Jason Cowley in today’s London Sunday Times profiling a young Labour MP called Dan Carden? I doubt Starmer’s facile Administration will pay him much attention. They seem as tone deaf as the DNC and Reform is the UK’s MAGA.
Bravo! 👏🏻