Moveon and the Tea Party Movement: Parallels

Via a couple of bloggers (probably Marginal Revolution and Klein [Updated: Todd Zywicki at Volokh is one]) , this interesting piece in National Journal on the Tea Party Movement's organization. It's worth reading, both in the light of organization theory and politics.

The article includes a comparison of Moveon and the Tea Party Movement, both being ground up organizations with minimal national leadership.The last two paragraphs:

One hears again, there, echoes of leftist movements. Raise consciousness. Change hearts, not just votes. Attack corruption in society, not just on Capitol Hill. In America, right-wing movements have tended to focus on taking over politics, left-wing ones on changing the culture. Like its leftist precursors, the Tea Party Patriots thinks of itself as a social movement, not a political one.
Centerless swarms are bad at transactional politics. But they may be pretty good at cultural reform. In any case, the experiment begins.

Politicians and Disingenuous Criticism

Farm Policy quotes former Rep. Larry Combest:

“Hail and drought are all too common in these parts, which might explain why a local wheat, sorghum, and beef producer told the House Agriculture Committee in May, ‘Risk management, specifically crop insurance, is critical to Texas producers generally and especially those in this region of the state.’

“Too bad the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed a giant chunk out of crop insurance just a few months later, leaving area farmers more vulnerable to Mother Nature’s whims.

I don't know how he gets the last sentence. Existing producers with existing policies aren't affected as far as coverage goes. The worst you could say is, by cutting back on crop insurance administration, companies won't service their policies as well or be as prompt in handling and paying claims. And perhaps down the line that will be true. But it's not true this year or next year (inasmuch as 2011 wheat policies have already been sold).

Interestingly, Farm Policy also reports the purchase of Rain and Hail Insurance by a Swiss insurer which operates in more than 50 countries.  They value R&H at more than book value, at 1.59 times book.

Reagan Not Transformational? The Case of Metrics

Via the NYTimes comes an article reminding us that Ronald Reagan was not a transformational figure.  It seems that ever since Reagan's campaign for the US to adopt metrics some Arizona interstates have been using kilometers on their signs and to determine the numbering of the exits. Now they're converting back to miles and some business owners don't like it.

Don't remember Reagan's campaign?  You just proved my point.  Actually, going by memory without sparing the trouble to look it up, I think it was his Commerce Secretary who probably pushed it.  May have been Malcolm Baldridge, who pushed for American industry to rationalize and improve their management in order to catch up with the Japanese in quality.

A certain breed of liberals, one with which I have a lot of sympathy, and a certain breed of businessperson have some things in common: most notably a faith in reason to improve human affairs.  The business people tend to favor big business, often with a little cooperation thrown in (otherwise known as "trusts", "cartels" "restraint of trade", etc.)  They were, in my youth, the country club Republicans who thought Barry Goldwater was too extreme and much preferred the Nelson Rockefeller, Bill Scranton brand of Republicanism.  The liberals take the same faith in human reason and the ability of people to run big organizations and put it to work in government.

Sometimes You Have to Acknowledge the Power of Markets

Technology Review says we may have a space bubble

What Is Good Housing?

Little house on the prairie really was little: 12' x 12'.  See Wilder's homestead claim at National Archives.

Distribution Software and the Egg Recall: Blame It on the Railroads

Here's an interesting post on the distribution process for eggs.  I got an email from the author I guess because I'd posted on eggs and the salmonella recall.   The anti-NAIS people won't like this bit:

In fact, some industry groups are advocating for recall planning guidelines, such as the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). The PTI’s ultimate goal is supply chain-wide adoption of electronic traceability for every case of produce by the year 2012.

By contrast, see this post which questions FDA's approval of certain salmon, on the basis FDA can't track eggs.

Are Republicans Different?

I generally assume that there's a good deal of symmetry in American politics with a normal distribution curve.  In other words, both right and left have their extremes, their nuts, their excesses, and we all have our blindnesses.  I still think it's a good assumption, good to moderate my tendency to self-righteousness, the feeling I know better.  But,as Kevin Drum notes, over the past 10 years the sorting process whereby political partisans listen to their favorite cable news channel worked more strongly for Republicans than Democrats.  I don't understand why, if my operating assumption is true.

Are We a Center-Right Nation?

That's the conventional wisdom among many of the bloggers/columnists I follow. Pollsters seem to suggest the same: there are more conservatives than liberals.  But my memory says that two or three times in my lifetime one party has had 60 or more Senate seats, each time the Democrats.  Why is that, if we are center-right?

MIDAS, GAO and Enterprise Architecture

A recent GAO report on "Enterprise Architecture" shows why agencies like USDA have problems with their IT projects.  I quote one sentence from the summary:

The framework consists of three interrelated components: (1) seven hierarchical stages of management maturity; (2) four representations of management attributes that are critical to the success of any program or organizational endeavor; and (3) 59 elements, or building blocks, of EA management that are at the core of an EA program.

My point is, this sort of language quickly turns off the policy and program people, who just happen to be the ones who have to make the decisions.  What decisions might management have to make for MIDAS?

• what's the time frame, both for implementation and for use of the product?
• how secure is the funding and, if insecure, should the project be structured accordingly (i.e., incrementally rather than globally)?
• which FSA programs will continue over the time frame and which will be changed, discontinued, etc.?
• to what extent should FSA support RMA and crop insurance and what support can it expect from RMA
• to what extent should FSA support NRCS and what support can it expect from NRCS?
• to what extent should FSA support RD, Extension Service, APHIS, NASS? 
• to what extent should FSA GIS layers be pushed into public and other governmental areas
• should FSA focus on the most efficient delivery of benefits to farmers, regardless of the impact on county offices, or should it give priority to face-to-face contact with farmers at the local offices?
• should the focus be on maximum use of  Government 2.0 techniques, or is there a misfit between current personnel and work patterns and such techniques?
• how seriously should FSA take Obama administration directives (on transparency, etc.)
 

Note these and other questions can't be answered by IT types or the GS-14's and 13's who deal with them. In my experience management figures most of its job is done once they've assigned the "right" people to an IT project.  Their attention quickly turns back to the daily business of running the agencies and satisfying Congress.

Buffett and Rhee on Improving Education

Courtland Milloy passes on this bit of wisdom from Mr. Buffett via Ms. Rhee: the way immediately to improve our schools is to outlaw private schools and then use a lottery to determine which school each student attends.

Works for me, but totally impossible to adopt.  Though back in the old days of the one-room schoolhouse, that was basically what happened.  Everyone in the area got the same educational opportunity.