While thinking about the populist demands, reading The Economist, and putting together a new book shelf:
Warning to those who demand small government, some assembly is required.
After trying unsuccessfully to balance the conservative chants: “about the government’s supposed inability to actually create jobs” and “vote for me because I am conservative and know how to create jobs”:
If government doesn’t create jobs, why does job creation experience qualify someone for public office?
And then this snarky aside:
Btw: watch some government created jobs disappear if the Army doesn’t need anymore hardened vehicles from Oshkosh Trucks.
After watching Republican Senate candidate Ron Johnson’s victory speech Tuesday night:
If Ron Johnson needed to replace his plant manager, would he hire a career manufacturer or a raw outsider?
And finally, while taking my lunch time stroll up the avenue, my favorite personalized license plate of the week:
ROJOHO
Not sure entirely how to take that last one…
“If government doesn’t create jobs, why does job creation experience qualify someone for public office?”
Excellent question…
Wouldn’t RoJo rely on his father-in-law?
By the way, why didn’t the GOP nominate RoJo’s father-in-law? He seems to actually know how to run a business.
Because he’s no longer alive. Perhaps, knowing that, maybe people would stop pissing all over his grave in their effort to knock down Johnson.
Really? I called someone a RojoHo over on Chief’s blog months ago. As far as I know I made that up. I only wish I could remember all the people I insult, then maybe I could think who that might be. Not that other people can’t think of stuff simultaneously, but still. It’s unnerving that I insult so many ppl that I lose track. Omg, the angst of it all.
(That was of course in my guise as the ever delightful STEWIEEEEEEEEE)
“If Ron Johnson needed to replace his plant manager, would he hire a career manufacturer or a raw outsider?”
Are you saying it takes some intricate expertise to hold public office that we need to hire people who have made their lifetime careers to serve in legislative bodies? We’re not talking about scientists or architects or surgeons here who need some special training here. Serving in Congress follows along the same lines as jury duty I would say. Your comparison to hiring a plant manager doesn’t hold up.
Yeah, we just want to put anyone in charge of trillion dollar budgets and our entire way of life…actually a plant manager is a whole hell of a lot simpler.
As is, the single biggest priority we have for them now is how well they can lie to us while sounding sincere. Seriously, it’s amazing how being good at campaigning = being a good politician. Neither of those have anything to do with being an effective representative and elected official.
“…it’s amazing how being good at campaigning = being a good politician. Neither of those have anything to do with being an effective representative and elected official.”
I don’t disagree.
So who IS qualified then, Ed? Nice definition too — “in charge of… our entire way of life.” That’s just it. We don’t want them in charge of our entire lives!
A jury of peers are just people off the street, and they determine life and death issues. To serve in our democratic republic in a deliberative body it just takes common sense. That’s found more often in someone living his life in the private sector than it is by someone who has spent his entire life in government. I’m not saying it is necessarily bad for someone to serve a lengthy time of public service, but that doesn’t mean Feingold is more qualified than Johnson based on that reason.
Plus it would be another story if Russ had been in office all this time fighting the good fight. But he’s just been part of the problem.
“We don’t want them in charge of our entire lives!” Well they effectively are whether they tax or not tax, govern or not govern, legislate or not legislate, their actions affect the way we live.
“I’m not saying it is necessarily bad for someone to serve a lengthy time of public service…” Well Mr Johnson is and Mr Neumann did as well.
“…if Russ had been in office all this time fighting the good fight. But he’s just been part of the problem.” And that is the matter of opinion where we differ.
“A jury of peers are just people off the street…” If it’s so gosh darn easy, let’s make it like jury duty and we’ll just draw a name from the voter registration pool and send them to Washington.
If they are not taxing me and leaving me alone as much as possible, I don’t call that running my life. Not doing something doesn’t really qualify as being in charge of one’s life. I wish they would do far less sometimes.
As to your last point, way to miss my point entirely! All I’m saying that it’s not a bad thing to have people from a wide variety of different backgrounds in Congress. Surely liberals would agree with that. But I guess that only applies when it is a minority or something. Unless you truly think the only people capable of representing us are those who went to Harvard and have law degrees!
“Unless you truly think the only people capable of representing us are those who went to Harvard and have law degrees!” [Sarcasm alert]: That would be the qualification for a Supreme Court justice…not a Senator!
I don’t disagree with you that diversity in background and experience would be good for the Senate as a whole. But I don’t think being a businessman is necessarily the right background right out of the box either…having been an assemblyman, state senator, governor, congressman, after having been a businessman might be more appropriate…US Senate seems to be starting at the top of the heap.
Seems to me there was great hue and cry about Senator Obama’s lack of experience during the Presidential campaign…this seems the same issue here.
Yes, Senator Kohl, though he usually votes the way I like, is an excellent argument against putting businessmen straight into the Senate.
So you found the exception that proves the rule: a businessman can make the leap to being a successful Senator…otoh…he couldn’t make the leap to being a successful owner of a professional sports franchise.
C’mon now….the Bucks are showing serious signs of improvement!
But the jury system to solve today’s problems is an interesting idea…
Joe Klein in Time addresses that, in a column that’s an interesting read: (http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2015481,00.html)
“But what if there were a machine, a magical contraption that could take the process of making tough decisions in a democracy, shake it up, dramatize it and make it both credible and conclusive? As it happens, the ancient Athenians had one. It was called the kleroterion, and it worked something like a bingo-ball selector. Each citizen — free males only, of course — had an identity token; several hundred were picked randomly every day and delegated to make major decisions for the polis. But that couldn’t happen now, could it? Most of our decisions are too complicated and technical for mere civilians to make, aren’t they?…
“The public is very smart if you give it a chance,” says Fishkin, 62, who has been conducting experiments in what he calls “deliberative democracy” for nearly 20 years now. ” …”If you give people real choices and real consequences, they will make real decisions.”
Don’t forget that half those citizens will be below average.
To be perfectly honest, smart and corrupt ain’t working so well for us – maybe we give less bright, but honest people a try.
People who voluntarily step in to help govern temporarily would be more likely to make decisions that are in society’s best interests than those seeking to have a lifelong career and never need to get another job.
Oh,yeah…
I have dozens of trees and hundreds of plants on my roof in about 15 yards of soil (dat’s a lotta dirt).
In planters. Irrigated by necessity.
Anybody?