Flypaper and Legislation

I was reading through what I thought was the "War Supplemental" bill (aka Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010) just yesterday. It contained many things that you might not expect a war supplemental bill to contain.

Just a few - recissions of Stimulus funds (the Rs got their way, I thought, how interesting). Recissions are reductions - you know those unspent Stimulus funds. Funding for program integrity activities. My favorite was the REA program, where people collecting unemployment are mandatorily invited in for a review to see if they still qualify to receive unemployment, also to see what assistance they need in finding a job or training.

Then there was a unique carve-out for the State of Texas. I wonder if they really feel like part of the union? This was in the section offering $10B worth of funding to local school districts. And pointedly to the Governor of Texas, it stated that he would have to provide assurances that the money would be used to supplement and not supplant funding.

But what does this Texas stuff mean? It became clear when I looked up Governor Perry of Texas, who is a Republican trying to derail various Democrat agenda items. So in federal legislation he is singled out.

Fascinating stuff. Oh and the recissions to EPA and Energy programs as well.

But - psyche! That was the wrong version of the bill. The correct one, which I found today, that actually passed the House and Senate (same version) only contained military and State-department funding.

Now for flypaper and how this relates.. I lived in a house once in Beaverton. For some reason flies would come and fly around the living room. Very annoying. I was told to hang flypaper, which I did. The concept is you have this long extremely sticky paper hanging in the middle of the room. Flies fly around at random (so the concept goes, I did not interrogate them), and the thought is at some point they will smack into the flypaper. From which they are not able to escape.

It seems federal legislation these days has an element of randomness in it. I've heard managers talk about "throw lots of stuff out and see what sticks". Maybe that is where it comes from. Throw all the random stuff you want into legislation and see if it can survive.

Another day, another cspan lesson. Cannon courtesy of Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, New York; and was constructed at Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois.

Restaurant reviews of Troy, New York

Big Apple Pizza = 10. Pizza - yum (eggplant Parmesan, ricotta,
basil). Greek salad - mostly yum (iceberg lettuce, not well
integrated).

Java++ = 10. Double espresso - yum (no complaints). Nice comfy chairs & AC.

Plum Blossom (Chinese) = 9. Kung Pou tofu -yum! Spring rolls - yum!
Atmosphere - nice - calla lillies in large vases, various Asian buddas
and artifacts.

Friendly's = 1. If that. Service, food, selection = all bad. Don't go there.

Mostaciello's (Italian) - on the edge of town or even in East
Greenbush = 8. Linguine with white clam sauce - yum. Homemade soup -
yum. Salad - yum. Fresh bread & real butter - yum. Too much food I'm
sure. This restaurant we found on Sunday night thru Urban Spoon on my
iPhone. Our destination was El Porto - closed Sunday night apparently.

The Candy Shop (in Saratoga Springs) = 8.5 . A good old-fashioned
candy store, as good as Bruce's Candy Kitchen in Cannon Beach, OR. Our
favorites : dot candy (a good deal I am told - $2.50 for a largish
bag), cordials (raspberry - yum, tiramisu - mostly yum), fudge - ok
but did not melt in our mouth.

Lemonade stand (in Saratoga Raceway Park) = 9. One real lemon combined
with mucho ice and water with sugar. Delightful with a New York
pretzel, salted. Especially delightful when the sun has come full out
after a rain shower. It will revive you.

Old Judge Mansion B&B = 8. Good hash browns and meat. Great selection
of bagels. Wonderful community activist hostess Tina who has lived in
Troy her entire life and is taking back the neighborhood, without any
assistance from Shirley Ann Jackson (university president of RPI),
thank you very much. Not much to offer vegans but worth it in any
case.

EWR, aka Liberty airport

I guess it is different for Oregon types to adapt to Newark humidity
in July. It envelopes you. Like being in a tropical country, without
the tropics. Only city grit (I still I like it).

A city that works. Maybe. I have nothing but respect and admiration
for Mayor Cory Booker. Two shuttle buses later and I'm at the right
place finally. I sense they don't like outsiders. Living on the west
coast for - 20 years - has I guess has made me too friendly and
approachable.

The good old Star Ledger. I do not understand how Mr Christie got
elected here as Governor. I always thought of NJ as a complete melting
pot, as diverse as it gets. He seems completely intolerant. I guess
here, as at the national level, fiscal austerity has become Job 1.

It makes sense to me to fly to Newark

No matter where you are going it makes sense to fly through Newark. I
remember the old days before Continental, when there was People's
Express. My aunt would brag, "it's like a bus, you pay on the plane".

Guess they went out of business. But it was like an old fashioned bus
station, give me your huddled masses and all that. People would camp
out and nap, huddled in the gate, they were never on time.

Today it's more modern. Kids in retro tye-dye tshirts. Smart phones.
I've never flown red-eye before so this is sort of a test. If it
doesn't destroy me for the next few days, which is the extent of my
short vacation, then it can be an economical way to travel.

Tonight I signed something as Harriet, ok it was a guest book at the
new restaurant at PDX, Beaches, which has really great fish tacos.

Everything I need to know I learned in the widget factory

In manufacturing when product fails in the field we look for root cause.

Lets apply that to initiative petitions. Why are whole subassemblies (pages) tossed out for a few faulty components (duplicate or illegitimate signatures)?

The process of paper signature gathering was probably great in the 70's. Can we evolve? In Oregon we have a progressive vote by mail system. Word has it that turnout is up, fraud is down.

The next step I believe is online voting. Security needs to be worked out but if I can file my taxes with the IRS why can't I vote by mail? I refuse to believe the massive federal government is more technically adept than us Silicon Forest types.

How do you go from collecting voter signatures from a shopping mall to getting signatures by email, you may be thinking. Lets look at the next generation (for some the current generation): smart phones. There are African nations whose people conduct 100% of their banking transactions by smart phone. Again, I refuse to believe that Burundi is more technically adept than us Silicon Forest types.

Maybe an entrepreneur is listening and wants to be part of our evolution. Till then, the 70s had its fine points - I love my Eagles records.

Twas the Night Before the UI Extension Vote..

and not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Reprinted my philosophy on endless unemployment benefits (originally posted April 30, 2010):

Workfare

The prospect of long-term employment is real.

People have currently been on unemployment for 12 months and longer.

There are currently 5.5 people in line for every job (this statistic is oft-quoted of late).

People out of work for longer than one year have a tougher time getting back into the job market (at all).

Proposal

Workfare is a concept that has traditionally been used for welfare clients.

The proposal is to apply this to long-term unemployed claimants.

Operations

Do a lottery of people who have been unemployed for one year (random selection).

Those selected are obligated to perform workfare.

Workfare would require them to work for 20 hours a week – at community service, or for a nonprofit, or a public agency, or be enrolled in qualified training.

Benefits

Individuals would benefit by being engaged in productive work.

They would not be isolated, checking the job boards online in futility, in their homes.

They would be engaged in the community.

The community would benefit from services performed.

They would have an opportunity to network with others in the community, who could lead them to new career directions or possibilities.
They would have something to show for their time of unemployment besides paying the bills.

Options

The program would require workfare for those selected; it would optionally be available to others on a voluntary basis.

Sources

• Economist magazine – long term unemployment could become a reality – after 1 year of unemployment, 1 of 3 workers do not go back to work (ever).
• NY Times article – story about an artist – be willing to be engaged with people, and work for free. It could lead somewhere, network you, and it does keep you engaged and doing something useful for society.
• Neighborhood association in Beaverton – a group of unemployed individuals offering their house services to shut-in seniors.

On Person One Idea

Republican candidate for Governor Dudley & Zero Based Budgeting, against the entrenched constituency groups.

Is this David vs. Goliath, or will he amass armies to his side in the name of "fiscal discipline for the State of Oregon"?

Well it was fun to think about ZBB as a public administration student. Refreshing, almost. Compared with looking at the massive Washington County budget, and deciding where to make 10% cuts and how to implement the changes and still carry out mandated programs - like collecting property tax.

Or examining the CAFR (Consolidated Annual Financial Report) of Metro, the regional government, which was enlightening really. Enterprise operations such as the Zoo or the Expo center "share" in taxes collected by Metro as a taxing district. Not truly enterprise operations after all (that was in 2003 - maybe things are different now?)

But this is reality, not a student exercise. Can Mr. Dudley take a clean sheet of paper and build a state budget from the ground up?

I am skeptical. For starters, does he even know the mandates state government is bound by - both in terms of state law and also federal law? Um, if you forget to include some things, like say paying matching funds for Medicaid, will the feds forget to fund us?

Is it even possible to do this?

I will watch the rental ads in Salem. I would expect there to be influence peddlers of all stripes descending on the Gov come January. Right now the horse race is 50/50. So there may be groups making "donations" to both sides. As a down payment. Space could be at a premium in Salem. No my cubicle is not for rent!

... But wait - I remember a discussion with our Deputy Director about entrepreneurial government. Maybe I could rent it out, auction it even, online (social media?!). Since from 5pm to 8am I am not occupying it.