A study found that Detroit’s declining population, decimated economy and chaotic administration has led to its dysfunction. How can the city turn itself around?
Adam Zemke @adamzemke (Ann Arbor, MI) Michigan State Representative
Jeff Smith @JeffSmithMO (Montclair, NJ) Assistant Professor in the Urban Policy Graduate Program at the New School; Former State Senator for Inner City St. Louis
John Celock @JohnCelockHP (Washington, DC) HuffPost State Government Reporter
John Patrick Leary (Detroit, MI) Asst. Professor of American Literature
Stefen Welch @stefenj (Detroit , MI) Partner Coordinator at Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation
By Garrett Renfro, RP Staff, on Wed Feb 27, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Sequestration
The drama continues to unfold as the nation nears March 1 and the across the board spending cuts which will follow. Perhaps one of the few people in Washington D.C. feeling some relief this week is Leon Panetta. The Defense Secretary’s replacement, embattled former Senator Chuck Hagel, was confirmed yesterday in a 58-41 vote. Hagel will assume the office of Defense Secretary just as the department begins to endure $46 Billion in budget cuts. Peter Grier of The Christian Science Monitor examines the political consequences of the drawn out confirmation for a Defense Secretary with an immediate budget fight on his hands. [CSM]
Not everyone on Capitol Hill is overly concerned about the sequester however. Tom Coburn (R-OK), accused the President of exaggerating the possible effects of the $85 Billion cuts while appearing on the Sunday morning talk show circuit.[CBS]
Meanwhile, the Speaker of The House provided us with one of the better sound-bites of the week if not the entire sequestration fiasco. John Boehner (R-OH) was venting some frustration with perceived inactivity on the part of the Senate to agree on a plan to avert the sequester. Mr. Boehner suggested that the House of Representatives, which has passed two sequester replacement measures, shouldn’t have to pass a third before the Senate gets “off their ass” and passes one.[Politico]
It seems as the pot starts to boil over in the Capitol, the public at large is beginning to feel the heat. According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll the citizenry is becoming more engaged and discouraged. Reportedly, 51% of respondents are less confident in the recovery of the economy as negotiations drag on without a solution in sight. Though the possible cuts seem to have hurt consumer confidence, 53% suggested that they favor similar or deeper cuts in the future. This sort of confusion among potential voters may explain at least some of the confusion and inaction in their representatives. [The Hill]
By Garrett Renfro, RP Staff, on Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Sequestration
Americans are bracing themselves for the impact of impending government spending cuts, also known as the sequester. The $85 Billion cuts are set to begin on March 1, barring congressional action to avert them. According to Linda Feldman in an article for The Christian Science Monitor, the old saying about fearing what you don’t understand is rather poignant. The article cites a poll which found that only 36 percent of voters actually know what the sequester is, another 38 percent said they knew but then picked the wrong answer. Though disappointing, this lack of clarity is understandable. Since this whole fiasco began we have seen a concerted effort on the part of power players in Washington to shift blame. Perhaps one of the more well-known if not effective strategies has been the roll-out of the phonetically awkward phrase “Obamaquester.” Feldman attempts to explain the origins of the sequester plan (The 2011 Budget Control Act) as well as determine which side of the aisle is to blame, spoiler alert… both sides. [CSM]
The “Average Joes” out there aren’t alone in their confusion. Conservative political commentator Byron York questions whether or not the GOP leadership can formulate a coherent stance on the sequester. York is admittedly perplexed by the Speaker of the House’s insistence that the sequester represents a threat to our national security but still seems to, at least tacitly, support them. [WE]
Though uniformed personnel are not subject to unpaid leave, the Defense Department officially notified 800,000 civilian employees of likely furloughs beginning March 1. The Pentagon is facing $46 Billion in budget cuts resulting from the sequester. With no solution in sight, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was compelled by law to warn Congress of possible furloughs. [WP]
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Feb 20, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Fraud alert
I am not a regular shopper at Whole Foods Market.
I like going there and feel better about myself when I do. But it strikes me as a sort of community among its regular shoppers—health conscious and committed to a lifestyle replete with Vegan dieters and Yoga instructors.
I just don’t feel like I fit in there and suspect they sense a fraud. Or at least a Kroger shopper who missed the turn for Kroger and is in too big a hurry to turn around.
It’s a little confusing for me and a little daunting too.
I experience the same sensation when I am at a hardware store. Just looking at my hands you can tell I have never been asked by a neighbor if they could borrow some of my tools. That would be a pointless and rude and embarrassing to me. Like asking the neighbor whose house is in foreclosure if you can borrow $20. Just a common sense thing it never occurs to anyone ever to do in any neighborhood I have ever lives in.
So bracing with my insecurities about neither being ever asked for direction to Rainbow Blossom, I confidently strode into Whole Foods Market.
So far, so good. No one seems to be whispering “Who is that man who looks like he still buys Wonder Bread and what is he doing here?”
No one asked me if I was lost and needed directions to the Taco Bell at the other end of the shopping mall.
I tried to look healthy and fit in. I mussed my hair and looked earnestly at a magazine featuring simple, austere, healthful living practices.
I noticed a lot of unhealthy and weak looking people shopping and wasn’t sure if they were here to change the way they look or if their pallid complexions were the result of too many glasses of strained carrot juice.
I picked out a low calorie dinner that I would love to have someone I know walk by and see me eating. And say, “John, I didn’t know you were into….” And I could smile –while chewing (healthy food is really easy to chew so this isn’t difficutl or rude to do—and give them an affirming nod that says “Oh yeah. I am a regular.” But not having to say it since that would be a lie.
Nobody I knew saw me and now it was time to leave.
I put a serious concentrated look on my face with just a hint of deprivation that sent the message, “I may have just eaten but I am nowhere near full. And I only pretended to enjoy those things that looked like au gratin potatoes but tasted like something that someone tried to make look like au gratin potatoes otherwise no one would ever buy them because they taste like the drained off juice from real au gratin potatoes but without the cheese or potatoes.”
In other words, I was fitting in.
Until I walked out the store exit and while standing in the alcove bent down to look at the free magazine section. After thumbing through a publication with pictures of the health food culture equivalent of really, really smart nerdy looking people. Except instead of having the excuse of having a stratospheric IQ or two PHds from MIT, they were just really fanatical about health food. And remote from me.
So I looked around to make sure no one was looking, grabbed the gigantic glossy and gaudy issue of NFocus magazine and quickly folded it under my arm and walked rapidly to my car. Hoping to escape before the Whole Foods fraud alarm went off or any of my newfound Whole Foods Market compatriots got my license plate.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
We are so proud to announce that contributing RP (and No Labels co-founder) Lisa Borders has been named the new chairman of the Coca-Cola Foundation.
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Hon. Lisa Borders
The Coca-Cola Co. Senior Vice President of Global Community Connections and Chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation Ingrid Saunders Jones will retire on June 1 after 30 years with the beverage giant.
She joined Atlanta-based Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) in 1982 and has held roles of increasing responsibility around the company’s corporate giving and community outreach. She has been chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation since 1991. Under Jones’ watch, The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $500 million to thousands of community organizations around the world…
Grady Health Foundation President and former Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders will succeed Jones on May 1.
Borders also was vice mayor of Atlanta and co-chair of the transition team for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. She is currently a trustee at The Westminster Schools, a board member at Clark Atlanta University, a member of the Board of Visitors and Board of Ethics at Emory University, and a board member of the Atlanta Downtown Community Improvement District (ADID).
My friend Eric Patrick Marr, a passionate social entrepreneur, has been working to promote entrepreneurship in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. At his invitation, I went to the state’s two largest cities, Lexington and Louisville, to talk with local entrepreneurs and community leaders about what it takes to spur more innovation and entrepreneurship in a region.
It’s a goal that nearly every locale seems to have these days, but here there’s a particular sense of urgency given the recent election of new mayors in both towns. Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer are both first-time office holders coming to public service directly from successful private sector business careers. Both new mayors ran and won on economic development platforms. Like me, they believe it’s vital to think about the challenge of fostering entrepreneurship and innovation at the level of the city — and that their cities have the potential to lead the way by becoming innovation hotspots.
Each has a deep and rich economic heritage to draw on — and to overcome — in that quest.Louisville’s economic legacy is that of a classic industrial-era city; Lexington, only 75 miles north, has a predominantly agrarian heritage, centered on the region’s many beautiful and expansive horse farms. In both cities, even as people take pride in the past, some worry that it hasn’t equipped them to build new engines of regional prosperity and job creation. It’s a concern I see in cities in every mature economy that once lived in high-growth prosperity but no longer do. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, they yearn to get back to it, but think it might take something magical, the economic equivalent of ruby red slippers, to effect the change.
My take is that they already have the power within them. I’ll admit this is based on a quick impression. But in my 24 hour visit I met individually with Mayor Gray and Mayor Fischer, talked with the Lexington City Council, taught a class on business model innovation at the University of Kentucky, and met with over 150 local entrepreneurs at several sessions bouncing back and forth between Lexington and Louisville. Talk about total immersion. It was incredibly energizing.
What I perceived was a critical mass of entrepreneurs and innovators who are passionate about the local community and stand ready to co-create their region’s economic future. This really hit me during that class session at the University of Kentucky. When I asked, “How many of you are fromKentucky?” every hand in the room went up. These students constitute a network with deep roots in the community and deep commitment to it. Soon to be part of the local workforce, they are also trained to be entrepreneurial in whatever they do, and eager to make a difference. They are the net-generation, with an unprecedented ability to self-organize, mobilize social change, and create their own economic opportunities. They don’t need ruby red slippers.
My message to them, and to the entrepreneurs and innovators I met, was this: don’t wait for local institutions to clear a path. You have to lead. And once you demonstrate real progress, the institutions will get on board. They will not want to be left behind.
Meanwhile, my advice to community leaders was to play a catalyst role. What does that mean? I like to think of the work of the catalyst as having three parts:
Connect. Winning communities enable random collisions among unusual suspects. They know the most important value-creating opportunities are found in the gray areas between sectors, silos, and disciplines. So, get better at enabling the cross-community connections that will give rise to productive collaborations.
Read the rest of… Saul Kaplan: Will the Sun Shine Bright on Kentucky Innovation?
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Feb 14, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
The economic way of thinking. (The Slinky Test)
There’s a sucker born every minute, PT Barnum famously said. Including the evening of June 2, 1963 (my birth date)
I saw a later version of this TV ad when I was a child of about 5. And I had to have a slinky. Had to. Watch the way it curiously flops hypnotically down a flight of stairs. Or flops itself along the declining platform.
It was the “sizzle” not the “steak” (so to speak) that mesmerized me and made me feel I had to have this shiny toy.
So I insisted and wheedled and cajoled (even though I didn’t know what those words meant at the time) until my grandmother broke down and got me one.
And here’s the genius (or cunning) of good ole American marketing. The slinky did exactly as it was represented in the ad. If flopped down the stairs. And flipped down an incline.
So I did it again. And again the slinky flopped and flipped–just as it did in the ad. I didn’t want to admit it but, frankly, I was starting to get a little bored at this juncture. So
I ran the slinky down the stairs and incline one or two more times. And then I realized, “I think I’m done with this toy. Now what?” And shortly after that the economic agony of realizing you spent (or your grandmother spent) $4 in real money for about 50c in thrills sets in.
You can keep playing with the slinky until you get in about $6 worth of play, so your grandmother will remember your wise purchase the next time you want something you see advertised on TV. Or you can do as I did. Go in the basement and pretend to play with the slinky for about $7 or $8 dollars worth of fun to impress your sweet grandmother (who also warned you about the limits of a slinky).
And don’t we do that with many new purchases?
So the test for us should NOT be, “Does the product perform as represented?” But rather, “Does what the product claim to do —for personal or practical reasons—justify the cost?”
And if the answer is no, remind yourself how many hours you’ll have to spend in the basement pretending to be playing with a slinky to preserve your ability to make your next irresistible purchase.
(Note: I know the slinky is a lot more complicated than I make it sound and an ingenious toy. But mostly for ingenious kids. I just thought it looked cool going down the stairs and failed to calculate how much that was worth to me).
Karl Rove has been spectacularly right about one big thing in his far-flung career: his calculation that Republicans in the late nineties and early 2000s needed to be rebranded as problem solvers, who had a formula to compete on Democratic terrain like education and health-care, outflanked Clintonian centrism when it was on the verge of realigning American politics. Rove was just as spectacularly wrong on another front, his blind spot on the risks of conservatism “going corporate” and turning into just another patchwork of special interests and powerbrokers.
It’s worth keeping the dual nature of Rove’s Bush era legacy in mind as he plots an ambitious effort to intervene in primary fights on behalf of Republicans who are…well, that part remains vague, but excludes at least candidates with a history of dabbling in witchcraft or who have a penchant for philosophizing on gynecology.
If Rove’s version of influence merely takes the form of injecting one more source of shadowy cash into races, then he has already misread recent campaign cycles. Deep-pocketed front-runners from Charlie Crist to Bill Bolling never made it past the starting gate, and it is the insurgents who have cleaned up in GOP state primaries who have been chronically under-funded. The missing element for the losers in these fights has not been a lack of cash to sustain ads or phone banks, but an inability to mobilize rank and file primary voters with either a policy vision or a rhetorical message beyond inside baseball about electability.
In an era where the activists who dominate party primaries award no extra points based on time served in office, or chits from funneling checks to local party committees, the populist, anti-establishment wing of the party has filled a void. In blunt terms, their fears are not getting outflanked with swing voters, but getting trammeled by a government that serves every agenda but theirs. They distrust “reform” as a code for more mandates. They are corrosively suspicious of political power because it seems too subject to being rented or bought by corporate power. And many of them have adopted a Manichaen view of politics that genuinely considers constitutional liberty and fiscal stability to be in some degree of jeopardy.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis: The House that Rove Built
