Wrong Again, on Carbon Sequestration

House Ag has the text of the agricultural amendments to the carbon bill. (There's also a summary.) I was wrong in my assumptions on how it might work--I was figuring a direct NRCS to farmer linkage. Not so, instead there's provision for "offset project developers" and "independent offset verifiers" which sound like private entities. So the NRCS would be working through these third parties. (This is based on a fast skim and I don't claim any expertise in the area.)

Seems to me this is partially political. (I know you're surprised.) By using third parties you increase the chance of getting influential supporters and contributors on board. Use a government agency, you only get the agency's employees. [Updated: Did I ever link to the National Farmer's Union testimony? They're currently acting, I think, as an offset project developer. They've got an interesting website application show in the testimony as well.]

Because I'm on the weak government kick recently, I'll go on to say this is an example of how and why we end up with weak government (otherwise known as protecting our liberties); the process of getting legislation enacted requires logrolling and obeisance to local power centers.

Don't Send Your Son to College

To paraphrase an old song, because Henry Farrell at the Monkey Cage says:
" university funding people act like starved, feral weasels"

Student Aid Applications and the IRS

The NYTimes has an article on:

The Obama administration is moving to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, a notoriously complicated form that asks students seeking financial aid for college as many as 153 questions.

If I understand, the biggest part of the idea is to piggyback on IRS 1040 data. Apparently there's lots of overlap, so the Education Department is willing to forgo some questions of value only in special circumstances, and the applicant is willing to permit Ed to access IRS data, the entry process can be simplified, speeded up, and made much more accurate.

Seems to me there's a trend at work--people are more comfortable with having their data online. Whether they trust the government (or Google or whoever) or it's just an evolution as we get more used to the Internet, I don't know.

Blowing My Mind--Fertilizer Misconception

"By 2005 corn yields in the Midwest and China were about the same, but Chinese farmers were using about 525 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per acre compared with 83 pounds in the Midwest, and farms in northern China generated nearly 23 times the amount of excess nitrogen than those in the Midwest."

That's from a press release from Cornell U about a Science article one of their professors participated in (via Extension.org).

I guess I've still got images of "The Good Earth" at the back of my mind. Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of us would be surprised at this.

Metro and WMATA

The Post runs an op-ed by Doug Feaver keyed to the Metro accident two days ago, decrying the fact Metro doesn't have dedicated funding:

"That Metro exists is a small miracle. Its construction required the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia, the D.C. Council and the U.S. Congress to agree on the same word-for-word, comma-for-comma enabling language. That nailed down the construction agreements.

Construction is fun and politicians love it. Running and maintaining something, however, is hard work, and it is much less visible to constituents, until something goes wrong. As Ted Lutz, Metro's former general manager (and later a Washington Post Co. vice president) once told me, "You never saw a politician cut a ribbon at an asphalt overlay project."

That fits two of my hobbyhorses: the weakness of our governmental structure, as in the extraordinary exertions and leadership needed to create WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority), and the parochial nature of politics.

Our Weak Government, Unemployment

Via Understanding Gov, a Wall Street Journal piece on the inequities of the unemployment insurance system, which is run by individual states, not the Feds:

"People in the same state, and even neighbors, can be treated differently, because benefits are awarded by the state where they worked, not where they live."

On a related issue, the Obama administration didn't propose any change in the regulation of insurance companies by states when they revealed their overhaul of the regulation of the financial industry. Insurance agents and companies have big clout in government.

The Decline of Hierarchy

For some reason the other day I got to thinking about cars. (Maybe it was prompted by the bankruptcy of GM.)

In the American Revolution, one of the strands was the rise of democracy and the decline of aristocracy. Where once people tipped their hats in respect to their "betters" (and elders), that sort of deference declined. John Adams was mocked for his enthusiasm for aristocratic and monarchical seeming titles. Then the great Scots-Irishman Andrew Jackson became President and the people were really rising.

But all the historical emphasis on the rise of democracy obscured the ways in which hierarchy still ruled. In my youth it was cars. GM and the others had a deliberate hierarchy--start with a Chevy then move up the ladder until the apex of the mountain was the Caddy. You could drive down the street and place people by the make and age of their cars. A new Cadillac was king of the road, a crapped-out old Chevy had to cower in the side streets.

No more. The Big Three are gone, their vehicular hierarchies are dissolved, the distinctions among cars are blurred. Now when you walk by the community swimming pool the lifeguards may be driving small foreign cars or bigger SUV's. Who knows.

I'm sure there are other hierarchies remaining or evolving, but I notice most the changes from my youth.

More About MIDAS Next Week?

A test of CIO Kundra's dashboard project, as described in this Nextgov post, is whether the MIDAS of FSA is included.

Greg Mankiw Has a Stupid Moment

Greg Mankiw is a Harvard economics professor, author of a best selling economics textbook, formerly on Bush's Council of Economic Advisors, and blogger who doesn't accept comments. His most recent post recounts his time on jury duty--he was peremptorily challenged and observes the: "The only information they had about me at the time was based on a brief questionnaire, which did not say much more than my name, address, and occupation."

Why do I say it was a stupid moment? Because IMHO Mankiw underestimates his fame, particularly in Boston, and the ability to research him. I'd guess the lawyers at least had a laptop, on which they could and would Google the members of the panel. Given his relative conservatism, I would guess the plaintiff's attorneys filed the challenge.

John Boyd Makes the Front Page

A soft piece on John Boyd, President of the National Black Farmers, in today's Post. Obamafoodorama is enthusiastic, even though the piece is implicitly critical of Obama for being slow on delivering the $50,000 for 70,000 black farmers.

I'm sorry, but it seems sloppy to me. Two quibbles, aside from the merits of the Pigford suit: the author says Boyd is a fourth generation farmer, but the National Black Farmers Association says he's third generation; and she says he's been active for 8 1/2 years, but the NBFA says it was founded by Boyd in 1995.