Forms.gov

Via the Government Gab Blog, here's a website for government forms. But I only found 2 Commodity Credit Corporation forms on it by searching on the term. Using FSA, I found 229 results. But if I go to the FSA site and access its forms database, I get 562 results.

I suspect, but don't know, the problem is either in differences in the definition of what forms to include or learning problems in feeding data from one database to another. Of course, to a rationalist, the ideal is one database for every government form, but that doesn't work. Instead we have multiple databases (FSA's forms manager had an on-line database even when I was working--she was a sharp, forward-looking individual) as different organizations catch the wave of innovation.

A Matter of Voice--Finding It, or Identifying It

Supposedly Hillary has found her "voice." And Romney has found his "voice'. But apparently Obama speaks in different voices, if you can trust our media:

Here

In a steady, soothing tenor, Obama tells voters he is the candidate to unite the nation's fractured political divisions and restore America's good reputation abroad.

Here

Obama's baritone voice filled the open field, shaded by an old willow tree by a little pond. He spoke not only with his voice, but with his hands. And though he is an attorney who took his J.D. at Harvard Law and later taught Constitutional law, his gestures were not those of a trial attorney, binding the jury by casting a spell with a closing argument. Rather, his oratorical gestures were more like those of a preacher conducting a revival and call to baptism down by the river side.

Here

A Newsweek cover story out yesterday gushed that Obama, "tall and handsome and blessed with a weighty baritone, knows how to bring along a crowd while seeming to stay slightly above it." The journalistic scrutiny usually visited on instant front-runners has been replaced by something akin to a standing ovation.

I've heard of two-faced politicians, but not two-voiced.

All joking aside, it's probably significant that news reports do pay attention to Obama's voice. It must be pleasing or impressive.

A Farmer Is a Farmer Is Not a Farmer

Contra Shakespeare, a farmer must be a farmer (actually a producer, but that's too technical) to get program payments. According to this article, House Ag chair Peterson and acting USDA secretary Connor are discussing who is a farmer. Specifically, changing definitions.

I'm not sure that approach will be sufficient--see the Environmental Working Group's digest of editorials on the farm bill for a sense of the growing opposition to farm program payments.

Modern Marriage Involves Disposing of Duplicates

From a freecycle listing:

This was my husband's sound system. Mine rocks, his is well....ok!

- Pioneer cd player
- Teak cassette player
- Pioneer tuner
- Infinity Speakers

Come 'n get it! (free pre-marital dust included)

Can this marriage survive despite the obvious differences in sonic tastes and housekeeping standards?

Michael Pollan Returns I

He has a new book out, In Defense of Food. Here's the link on his site.

I've no doubt I will have problems with his thesis and some of his facts, but it's no doubt going to be a best seller.

Why Not Alabama?

Many conservatives talk about the oppressive taxes on the rich. This NYTimes article mentions that taxes on the poor in Alabama are more than twice those on the rich. Makes you wonder why more rich people don't live in Alabama, instead of very high tax Manhattan.

The Devil and John McCann

No, he hasn't made a deal with the horned one that he needs to get out of. Just a cute metaphor in the Times from a couple days ago. And maybe a deal with the devil gave him New Hampshire:

After an event on Friday at a company that makes equipment for the military, Mr. McCain chose to rail against the “military-industrial complex.” Later, he said, “Sometimes I go too far.”

He said an angel on one shoulder begged him to pipe down while a devil on the other goaded him on. His best events are when the devil gets the better of him.

Farm Bill Status

Here's an article on the status of farm bill meetings among House, Senate, and administration. In theory the House and Senate bills set the outside parameters for the legislation--the final bill is supposed to be somewhere between them. So, for example, there shouldn't be any possibility of getting tighter payment limitations than exist in one of the bills. But that's college 101 political science--the reality is that such procedural rules can be bypassed if the incentive is there (as if the President guaranteed a veto or you can't get 60 votes in the Senate).

NASCOE is agitating for its positions with members of the committees (see this comment).

John Phipps notes everyone running for President seems to be promising change, and doubts that farm programs can withstand the surge.

It's an interesting world, particularly if you are tucked snugly on the sidelines.

Causes of Housing Recession: Tancredo?

I use Tom Tancredo as the symbol of the crusade against illegal immigration. The question is whether the crusade is responsible for the recession in housing, which appears likely to evolve into a general recession.

What's my logic? Over the course of the housing boom, the percentage of people owning homes rose from about 66 percent to 70, if memory serves. Most of that increase is probably people at the lower end of the income scale. My guess, based mostly on the activity in my mother-in-law's neighborhood and my neighborhood, is that many immigrants bought at the lower end. By doubling up (or tripling or more), people could split the mortgage payment and still make it. Many of these immigrants were working home construction. Many were eager to have a piece of the American dream.

So it was a virtuous circle. My next door neighbor sold his townhouse in 1999 for $93,000. The new buyers, D'Amico, did a lot of fixing up and sold it at the end of 2001 for $167,000. They moved to a new house in a new development, probably stretching their money as far as it would go. The buyer was Salvadoran, who shared the house with others. (Good neighbors, not that I'm particularly outgoing.) He paid a high price, at least in terms of the history of the unit since it was built in 1973. But the high price was necessary for the D'Amicos to buy the house they did. It's quite possible some of his roomers built the house that the D'Amico's moved to. The process worked--the Salvadoran family lived there for 5 years and sold for $367,000 in 2006!

So far, everyone is happy. Everyone has ended up with more house and a bigger net worth than they had before. Even I feel good because the value of my townhouse has soared. But now comes Rep. Tancredo and Lou Dobbs and all the others who want to build a fence at the border. All of a sudden it's harder to find construction workers and people who will rent a bed in a house for ridiculous prices. So people pull back, and the bubble starts to pop. And when the gas goes, it goes fast. Zillow.com shows the most recent home sales in the cluster down about 25 percent from their high. And Juan, who paid $367K, is moving out today.

I exaggerate, the housing bubble was a bubble which would have popped even if Tancredo had never existed. But there is a real connection between economic growth and immigration.

[Added] The point is that the demand at the bottom of the ladder pushed up prices all the way up. Now the people who bought late face foreclosures, as described in this article.

The Problems of Consolidating Offices and Agencies

It's easy for the big shots in Washington, and the public in general, to demand efficiencies in government. One of the things the GHW Bush administration started, and the Clinton administration continued, and I guess the current administration is pursuing, is having USDA offices in the same building. But it's more complicated than just waving a wand, as this article
shows.

Any supporter of Mr. Obama might remember this. If he wins the nomination and the election, he's sure to run into the problem of unrealistic expectations. Of course, to win, he almost has to raise the expectations.