{"id":245,"date":"2013-03-16T12:57:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-16T16:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/?page_id=245"},"modified":"2013-03-19T21:35:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-20T01:35:53","slug":"welcome-to-dougs-brief-case","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Doug\u2019s Brief Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Doug<\/a>Thanks for stum\u00adbling onto this blog. I hope you\u2019ll take the time to read my brief cas\u00ades and respond with brief cas\u00ades of your own.<\/p>\n

I spent over 30 years in and around gov\u00adern\u00adment, work\u00ading in the White House, the US<\/span> Sen\u00adate, and as a lob\u00adby\u00adist both for a non-prof\u00adit advo\u00adca\u00adcy group and cor\u00adpo\u00adrate clients (Check out Doug\u2019s File<\/em> for more). That doesn\u2019t make me an expert, but it does give me some insight into how Wash\u00ading\u00adton works and why it often doesn\u2019t. Like every\u00adone, I have my own point of view, opin\u00adions and biases.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I believe:<\/p>\n

Government is brimming with good intentions.<\/em><\/h1>\n

Most every\u00adbody I\u2019ve ever worked with came to Wash\u00ading\u00adton for all the right rea\u00adsons. They have strong civic spir\u00adit, believe in pub\u00adlic ser\u00advice and hold what they believe to be the country\u2019s best inter\u00adests at heart. That\u2019s true both of peo\u00adple with whom I agree and with whom I\u2019ve dis\u00adagreed. The first les\u00adson I learned in Wash\u00ading\u00adton is that some of the peo\u00adple whose views I oppose are gen\u00aduine\u00adly good and decent; the sec\u00adond is that some of the peo\u00adple I agree with are real assholes.<\/p>\n

Government is overrated.<\/em><\/h1>\n

Because I believe that pret\u00adty much every\u00adbody is well-inten\u00adtioned, I\u2019m not a cyn\u00adic. Because I believe that well-inten\u00adtioned peo\u00adple often yield to the con\u00adceit that they know just how to set things right, I am often a skep\u00adtic. Most peo\u00adple assume that if gov\u00adern\u00adment estab\u00adlish\u00ades a pro\u00adgram in response to a prob\u00adlem, the pro\u00adgram is solv\u00ading that prob\u00adlem \u2013 or, at least, con\u00adtribut\u00ading to its solu\u00adtion. I\u2019ve learned that often ain\u2019t so. Pover\u00adty rates, for exam\u00adple, stub\u00adborn\u00adly climb as anti-pover\u00adty pro\u00adgrams mul\u00adti\u00adply. That\u2019s not because the peo\u00adple who cre\u00adat\u00aded these pro\u00adgrams are fool\u00adish or insin\u00adcere or the peo\u00adple who run them are lazy or incom\u00adpe\u00adtent. It\u2019s because there\u2019s a chasm between what gov\u00adern\u00adment intends and what it achieves. The unin\u00adtend\u00aded con\u00adse\u00adquences of gov\u00adern\u00adment action almost always out\u00adrun its good intentions.<\/p>\n

Government intervention is sometimes the only solution but it is rarely a good solution.<\/em><\/h1>\n

I am not a lib\u00ader\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan because I believe there are things gov\u00adern\u00adment should and must do. I am not a lib\u00ader\u00adal because I do not believe that gov\u00adern\u00adment can allo\u00adcate goods and ser\u00advices more effi\u00adcient\u00adly and more fair\u00adly than can mar\u00adkets. I am a con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive because while I rec\u00adog\u00adnize a larg\u00ader role for gov\u00adern\u00adment than do lib\u00ader\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adans, I share their view that gov\u00adern\u00adment grows at the expense of liberty.<\/p>\n

Our politics are too small.<\/em><\/h1>\n

But I\u2019m a con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive who believes that nei\u00adther par\u00adty can explain, much less resolve, our cur\u00adrent eco\u00adnom\u00adic predica\u00adment. Despite unprece\u00addent\u00aded efforts by the Fed\u00ader\u00adal Reserve (hold\u00ading inter\u00adest rates paid by banks to zero for near\u00adly five years and count\u00ading, buy\u00ading $85 bil\u00adlion in gov\u00adern\u00adment and mort\u00adgage-backed debt every month) to spur growth and \u201cstim\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtive\u201d fis\u00adcal pol\u00adi\u00adcy (high\u00adest fed\u00ader\u00adal deficits since WWII<\/span>), the econ\u00ado\u00admy con\u00adtin\u00adues to sput\u00adter and labor force par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion rates remain near 30-year lows. Nei\u00adther tax hikes advo\u00adcat\u00aded by Democ\u00adrats nor spend\u00ading cuts favored by Repub\u00adli\u00adcans seem like\u00adly to spur eco\u00adnom\u00adic growth that will cre\u00adate jobs and raise liv\u00ading stan\u00addards. I don\u2019t know what the answer is, but I\u2019m pret\u00adty sure that our lead\u00aders don\u2019t either.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks for stum\u00adbling onto this blog. I hope you\u2019ll take the time to read my brief cas\u00ades and respond with brief cas\u00ades of your own. I spent over 30 years in and around gov\u00adern\u00adment, work\u00ading in the White House, the US<\/span> \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"nfd_onboarding_generated":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-245","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t