Michael Franc
Michael Franc
attention year
There is a sense this year that anything is possible, that they have the rapt attention of the leadership.
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My guess is this is not a time when anyone is looking at a zero-sum game between one state or another.
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Boomers always struck me as very self-centered and self-important, because there are so many of us. We're always in the middle of the next fun moment at some everlasting party, and we're not able to defer the gratification to tackle the long-term problems.
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Crises cause government to grow. The test today will be how much of the federal response occurs within the existing boxes or through innovative ways.
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It certainly is the perfect storm of aggravating or provoking congressional egos and the president getting his back up and saying the least diplomatic thing he could have said.
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He sees this as an opportunity to revamp the entire relationship of the federal government to the region,
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They did a lot of tier-two issues that were important to certain constituencies but that, in and of themselves, were not of any great magnitude. It was not a year for, obviously, enactment or even action on tier-one issues.
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One of the assumptions is that it becomes increasingly difficult to get things done in an election year, especially things where tough decisions have to be made.
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He needs to be cognizant of congressional egos and their involvement in decisions going forward. He's got to make up 12-15 points to be effective. He can get there.
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It's going to push some people who are at the margins of being able to afford it into the consumer category.
bad happen
Bad things that were going to happen have not happened,
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If government continues to do things with enormous effects on business, they'll just find another way to protect their interests. There's too much at stake to walk away.
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The legislative calendar is shorter and, almost by definition in an election year, tempers will be shorter, too.
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This second round of tax cuts was probably the high point, domestically, of Bush's administration. No sooner were they put in place, then the GDP (gross domestic product) growth hit 4 percent and it's been there ever since.