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[W. Mark Hellinger]

So... today on the AM radio station idling away in the shop, I caught something that I'm still attempting to process.  It was some sort of PSA or infomercial prompted by our local publicly funded university... a "coming out" announcement for their new head of a new department, who's job is to figure out how to spend all the extra MONEY.  His telephone dialogue explained how the current downturn in the US economy is sure to rise like a phoenix from the ashes (he didn't explain how or why he expected this big turn-around), and he, and his department NEED to start NOW on figuring out ways to spend all that future money so that in a few years when all that extra money starts rolling in, they're ready... however, in the mean-time, there will undoubtedly be additional cutbacks and layoffs in basic services and education support within the university system.  He also added that this new future spending comprehensive plan was implemented months, or possibly years too-late, so he can’t really guarantee the outcome of his spending plans, but he’ll make do as best as possible given the unfortunately tardy and short-sited circumstances he’s working under.

So… it seems that if you’re upside-down on your house mortgage… what you really need to start working on… like NOW, is how to spend all the extra money you’re gonna be receiving in the future. And if everything goes tits-up... it's not your fault that the system clued you in too late.

New cars all around... (awe-shit, we already did that... ok... how about a couple of chickens in every pot.)

[dave stojan]

Riley Casey wrote on Sun, 14 February 2010 15:59

OK guys this is getting old.  The right has made a cottage industry of pretending that the government is made up of ' someone else ' - even when that government is a republican congress and president.  Our government is ours.  We bought and paid for it.  If we don't get what we expect from that government it just might be that " us " is not made up entirely of southern religious zealots  or northeastern liberals or midwestern fiscal conservatives or northwestern aging hippies.  It might just be that we cannot get anything more from our government than what we are willing to put into it in terms of time, attention and money.   A moment for a bit of full disclose.  This is really your government more so than mine.  I am disenfranchised because I live within the seat of that government.  My fellow DC residents and I can vote for president and for a single member of congress, a member who can only vote in committee, not in a full House vote and I have no vote for a Senator because we have no senators even though more US citizens live in Washington DC than live in Wyoming. The reason I bring this up is that I get to watch the the process up close.  While you have ostensibly selected this government and every US government seated since you were age 18 the people who really bought and paid for it are the lobbyists.  The lawyers who represent the military contractors, the farmers, the drug companies, the oil companies, the bankers, the trade unions, the computer industrys, all of the major stake holders in our economy.  No amount of grassroots agitation is going to shake that tree because your elected representatives realize full well that the largess of a business that receives a government contract for jet engines or corn oil or road building is going to be in the bank long after the current news cycle has lost interest in this weeks congressional peccadillo.   If you want your government to be responsive I suggest you follow the money.  Not the deficit money, the campaign contribution money.  The Supreme Court has recently opened a horrendous Pandora's box of corporate contributions to political campaigns and things on that front are likely to get MUCH worse before they get better.

Give that man a cigar.

[Jeff Wheeler]

W. Mark Hellinger wrote on Wed, 17 February 2010 19:38

a "coming out" announcement for their new head of a new department, who's job is to figure out how to spend all the extra MONEY.

While this does seem like a stupid position at first glance, maybe the university feels that donors are more likely to give them money for new projects than to plug financing holes in existing efforts?  If so, it may be a savvy fund-raising move.