FSA, Computers, and Obama

A short piece on FSA and computers from Hoosier Ag Today.

[Associate Admn] Keppy said educating the Obama transition team about computer system shortcomings was a major priority. “And it’s vital that we continue to upgrade and improve the technology that we have. I think it’s a big enough issue and I think the counties and states will make the new team very aware of the issue.”

Washing Ziploc Bags--a Liberal Trait?

Must be. My wife and I do. And here's the lede from a Post profile of Eric Cantor:

They surround Eric Cantor, these Democrats and liberals.

Here at home, there's his live-in mother-in-law with her Sierra Club membership and her baffling habit of hand-washing Ziploc bags -- "I don't know if that's an environment thing," the incoming Republican House whip and conservative bulwark wonders aloud, flashing a hint of a perfect smile.

And it's obviously an oddball trait.

When Does Horse-Trading Become Bribery

Eugene Volokh raises that issue in connectionwith Gov. Blago...'s arrest yesterday:

...my sense is that political deals of the "I appoint your political ally to X and you appoint me to Y" variety are pretty commonplace, though perhaps done with more subtlety than seemed to be contemplated here. Should these deals indeed be treated as criminal bribery? Have they generally been so treated?

After all, another Illinois man made appointments to his cabinet as part of horse-trades (notably Simon Cameron, to Secretary of War in 1861).

Volokh doesn't refer to Gov. Siegelman's conviction on a similar count, covered in a Post story today. One person quoted in the story notes that Blagojevich was looking for personal gain, at least in part, which wasn't true for Siegelman.

History and Food

Via John Phipps, the food timeline. May be better than wikipedia (see the tiramisu entry).

Obama's Choices

It seems to me Obama has many different choices, but one is whether to involve himself in the structure and operation of Congress. There are a couple of possible areas where he might be tempted:

• in the advice and consent of the Senate to his judicial nominees. He could try for a deal to change the environment, to avoid the threat of "holds" and filibusters which have been used in the past several administrations. (Something like the gang of 14.)
• in the handling of "earmarks" and Congressional micromanaging in appropriations.

In both cases the calculus is the same: do nothing and hope for support from Dems and moderate Republicans to get what you want, risking a decline of your power and support as the term goes on, or try for an early bipartisan deal and risk stirring up opposition from defenders of Congressional prerogative.

Another area might be governmental reorganizations crossing committee lines. The 9/11 commission's recommendations for realigning Congressional committees were never carried out.

I realize these aren't "Perils of Pauline", but for a political/government addict, they're close.

Stimulus Package

How people work. The Historical Commission in Ipswich last night reviewed plans for a bridge replacement. Apparently the project has been under consideration for years, moving slowly for various factors, including the proximity of the current bridge to some very old houses (like maybe the oldest house in New England). My theory is the prospect of getting some money out of the proposed stimulus package has focused the bureaucrats minds and speeded up the operation.

Can We Trust This President (Elect)?

If he lies to the public about smoking and fails to honor his promise to his wife? Link.

As someone who quit multiple times (the same number of times as I started to smoke), I know how hard it is. And I know the temptation to fudge, I've done that lots of time as well. Sometimes it's good to try to establish hostages to fortune--maybe Obama thought making a big deal out of quitting would help him quit.

So, I don't know the answer to my question.

A Politician Does Good for the World

Props to President Carter, for doing good:

Cases of Guinea worm disease — a horrifying infection that culminates in worms coming out of a victim's skin — have reached an all-time low worldwide, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced Friday.

The Ag Secretaries Speak

I caught part of a rerun of the panel of ex-Secretaries of USDA, sponsored by Farm Journal, on C-Span. Some thoughts:

• there's not much here to please the greens. As you might expect, I find confirmation here for my ideas--the limited power of USDA administrators to act as Michael Pollan or others would wish. Money, and therefore OMB, is the prime factor.
  
• these are politicans, not administrators. Instead of the President saying "do X", and their saying: "yes sir, right away". they are operators. There were discussions of allying with other Secretaries, with members of the President's staff, of Congress in order to get one's way. There were a couple instances of a Secretary (Block and Glickman) admitting they worked around OMB (meaning, at least in theory, the President).
• the political mindset showed in discussions of possible reorganization. Most seemed to accede with Yeutter that it's just too difficult, that it's better to try to get good people, that people make more of a difference than boxes on an organization chart. On that point, I disagree. As politicians, these Secretaries have a short term focus. As administrators, you should have a longer term focus. (In their defense, most of them had a deputy secretary who focused on day-to-day management and the nitty-gritty of organization.)

The discussion did cause me to wonder whether John Podesta is doing a boot camp for the new administration memebers, just to go through, for those without experience, the process of moving regulations, getting a budget approved, coordinating message management, working with the Hill, etc.

Prairie Potholes Vanishing

The receding glaciers of the ice age left behind blocks of ice (think icebergs in the ocean) which, when melted, formed prairie potholes in the Dakotas and MN. These depressions were wet, with the degree of water varying according to the weather from year to year. Dan Morgan writes in the Post that they're now being converted to cropland.

I'd debate the story title [Updated to clarify--Morgan points the finger at subsidized crop insurance, which is valid, but most people, as did I originally and as did all the comments at Volokh.com, will think first of direct payments], but more importantly I wonder about NRCS and the swampbuster provisions (which make people who drain wetlands ineligible for program benefits). If Morgan is right, either I misunderstand the current situation on wetlands or there's something else going on.