I spent this past weekend at Transparency Camp West, at the Google campus in Mountain View, CA. I went expecting to be surrounded by my fellow policy wonks, but surprisingly they didn’t make up the bulk of attendees. Most of the folks in attendance seemed to be developers looking to market their web applications. There… Continue reading I can see clearly now, can you?
Category: Budgets
Real Costs and Responsibilities
Every time we have to choose between options, we face a decision-making point between immediate gratification and long-term consequences. For example, buying the cheaper printer with the more expensive ink cartridges or eating that treat that you know will add bulges to where you want them least. There is a dedicated part of our brain… Continue reading Real Costs and Responsibilities
Think Globally, Act Locally
While he was still President-Elect, Barak Obama made it abundantly clear that he wanted no earmarks to be part of the economic stimulus package. While often perceived as a synonym to “Pork-Barrel spending,” earmarks can serve a useful role. They are a way that congress can designate funding for specific work. They are also a… Continue reading Think Globally, Act Locally
We have a TARP with a huge, gaping hole
Between running my business, tracking the Sam Adams story and everything else on my plate last week, I fell behind on my newsfeeds. My feeds have become more important to me because I have been listening to NPR less and less lately. I think the ongoing mantra of layoff numbers is counterproductive to economic recovery. … Continue reading We have a TARP with a huge, gaping hole
Debating garden hoses while Rome burns
I enjoy a good public policy debate as much as anyone (ok, to be honest, I seem to enjoy them more than most), but I have been getting frustrated lately about arguing about minutiae while we (and that is an inclusive we) seem to lose sight of the bigger picture. In the past few days,… Continue reading Debating garden hoses while Rome burns
The World we live in 