Sender: John Eley
Subject: Re: A perennial conundrum
Date: Thu, Aug 14, 2014
Msg: 101081

The history of congressional attempts to manage the federal debt on a year to year basis is amble evidence that structural changes have little or no impact on congressional behavior in the absence of a willingness to follow the rules that the structure dictates. See the essay by Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post today for a review of that sad history. I suspect that cap and prioritize is another one of those changes that may work for a short time and then be honored in the breach. It is a noble try. I think that this history suggests than even a constitutional amendment would be circumvented by politicians whose jobs depend on giving the people what they want-not what they need. We should change incentives and the rest will follow.

John Eley

On 7/21/14 1:46 PM, Rick Raddatz wrote: > So you want a structure of government where the structure itself > forces those in charge to make wise decisions. > > Why isn't cap-and-prioritize the structure you are looking for? > > The cap guarantees fiscal sustainability (just like the cap in > cap-and-trade guarantees environmental sustainability) and the > transparency of prioritized budgets forces what's left of government > spending to allocated wisely (just like the trade in cap-and-trade > enables society to wisely allocate what resources are left under the cap). > > - Rick Raddatz http://IncentiveReform.org > > > On Jul 21, 2014, at 8:23 AM, Steven H Johnson > wrote: > >> When I think of the America I'd like to see, I find myself imagining >> an America whose major laws and institutions are shaped to respect >> core virtues and promote the national interest and the common good. >> >> When I think of the America we have, I see a political system whose >> officials are rewarded for their self-righteousness. >> >> Will the self-righteous produce laws that promote the common good? >> Hmm. Not too likely, it it? This disparity creates a huge clash >> between the civic culture that modernity requires, and the civic >> culture that self-righteous partisanship creates. >> >> If there is to be any lasting cure to this tension, I think it will >> have to arise from within civil society. Those not locked into the >> self-righteousness of any particular -ism will be better at >> promoting a culture of virtue and national interest thinking. >> >> And some of the key reforms will have to be driven by independents, >> those not beholden to the -isms of America's major partisan coalitions. >> >> That's not to say that Americans caught up in the spirit of >> self-righteousness should not be listened to or engaged in dialogue. >> But it is to say that dialogues among the self-righteousness won't >> take us a very long way toward the healing of America. America won't >> work properly till policies born of self-righteousness have been >> replaced with policies rooted in virtue and enlightened self-interest. >> >> What do these thoughts say to this process? Perhaps we should add a >> framing of the "transpartisan" mission as an exploration of the >> tension between partisan self-righteousness and the realization of >> America's full potential. >> >> Best to all, >> >> Steve Johnson >> >> >> >> Steven Howard Johnson - Civic Futurist >> 410-562-0361 >> Book in Progress: /Thoughtful Patriotism/ >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> To unsubscribe from the TRANSPARTISAN list, click the following link: >> http://lists.thataway.org/scripts/wa-THATAWAY.exe?SUBED1=TRANSPARTISAN&A=1 >> >> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the TRANSPARTISAN list, click the following link: > http://lists.thataway.org/scripts/wa-THATAWAY.exe?SUBED1=TRANSPARTISAN&A=1 > >

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