A Look at “Why Nothing Works” by Marc Dunkelman

Posted on May 5, 2025 by billmanzi

Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back by Marc J. Dunkelman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Having just reviewed the Klein/Thompson ”Abundance” time to look at “Why Nothing Works” by Marc Dunkelman, a book that covers the same subject matter but in a slightly different way. The author gives us a historical perspective on how the progressive movement has swung between support for the “Hamiltonian” approach, centralized and designed to get results quickly, and the “Jeffersonian” approach, decentralized, with results less important than process. The author spends some time showing us the political ebbs and flows between these vastly different approaches. As with Klein/Thompson he shows us a lot more as well.

The author pays a lot more attention to the legacy of Robert Moses and the “Power Broker” than Abundance does. There is no question that Moses casts a long shadow over these discussions, and rightfully so. Moses did undertake some projects that really were terrible, but he also produced many worthwhile projects, especially in the recreation area.

The author starts the book with a look at Penn Station in New York City, and the total failure to renovate it, despite the strong initial call for action from U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The author, after years, and then decades, of inaction, felt the need to investigate the reasons for the failure. It appears to have driven him to write the book. That investigation showed him many stakeholders, all with the ability to delay or stop critical elements of the project, exercising that ability with impunity. For me the reaction of the government officials, which was nothing but hand-wringing, told the story. There was not someone like Robert Moses to break through the logjam and build the project.

“What I came to find so remarkable was that this whole Rashomon phenomenon had rarely flummoxed Robert Moses. Decades earlier, he’s managed to build the Cross Bronx despite a whole cacophony of objections-and yet the project has steadily moved forward. That contrast hadn’t been lost on the figures involved in the negotiations over Penn Station. On more than a few occasions, midway through an interview at a Midtown coffee shop, one of my subjects would scan for eavesdroppers, lean forward, and whisper to me, not for attribution: ‘This is why we need another Robert Moses.’…They simply believed it was time to install someone with sufficient authority to drive projects to their completion-someone who could cut through all the ‘if onlys.’ “

Dunkelman, Marc “Why Nothing Works Who Killed Progress -And How to Bring It Back. Pg. 4-5

Of course Dunkelman, staying in New York City, gets to the project that validates the central point of the book and at the same time manages to infuriate so many, the Wollman Rink project in Central Park. Mayor Ed Koch had undertaken a repair of this skating facility by introducing repairs designed to bring in freon and save money operationally. But instead of getting the repairs completed there was one misstep after another, with the bottom line being that the City not only could not successfully complete the repair but damaged the facility even more by undertaking these repairs, leading the Mayor to a decision point to have to spend another $3 million (on top of the original $4.9 million budgeted) to repair the repairs.

“The whole thing appeared like an unmitigated public relations disaster until, almost by the grace of God, Koch received an unexpected reprieve; a local developer offered to step in and make things right. In an unusual arrangement, Koch cut a deal to pay the developer to take control of the rink project, complete it for a fee, and hand it back to the city. ‘If it costs less, we’ll pay less,’ the Mayor explained when some questioned the wisdom of trusting someone outside of government to do something that would typically have been handled by a public authority. ‘If it costs more, he’ll pay.’ …….Fortunately for Koch, his collaboration with the outside developer turned out to be a huge success. The project did cost less than the original estimate-$750,000 less-and the rink opened ahead of the holiday season. But from a public relations perspective, the developers success just seemed to highlight City Hall’s incompetence. The Parks Department, columnists and reporters liked to remind the public, had wasted six years and $13 million on a project the private sector managed to complete in six months and at roughly a sixth of the cost.

Dunkelman, Marc “Why Nothing Works Who Killed Progress -And How to Bring It Back. Pg. 18-19

The developer who stepped in to fix the mess? His name was Donald J. Trump. With that attention grabber the author digs deeper, pointing out that state law prohibited the City from hiring a general contractor for the entirety of the project, requiring filed sub-bids for all the separate components. Most certainly, once Koch found a legal way to make the deal with Trump, the private developer had a huge advantage in that he could go in and simply concentrate on getting the job done without regard to City and State procurement requirements. The contrast in results has to make you wonder about the efficacy of those procurement requirements. I will have a bit more to say on that later.

Klein, in his book, references the need for “trade-offs.” This author obviously agrees.

“But there is a balance to be struck if only because, by limiting the discretion public officials have to do bad, the Jeffersonian agenda also narrows the path for other public officials to do good. By curtailing opportunities for centralized power brokers to wreak havoc, reformers risk immobilizing the public sphere, rendering the big hulking bureaucracies that were once the apple of progressivism’s eye incompetent.”

Dunkelman, Marc “Why Nothing Works Who Killed Progress -And How to Bring It Back. Pg. 159

I would take issue only with the idea that reformers may render the bureaucracies incompetent. They have already done so. My own observation on this is a bit more damning. The serious problems identified by these authors have created a mindset within some bureaucracies that the best way to deal with problems is simply to pass them along, with various contact points all pointing to other contact points as the responsible party. For members of the public hoping to solve problems quickly it can be, and is, a very frustrating thing. Nobody should be in a state of shock when the public shrugs its shoulders at nominal efficiency efforts that chainsaw government agency headcount, further impeding governments ability to serve the public.

The author gives us in this book plenty of great examples of gridlock. He contrasts our being stuck in the U.S. with the massive surge in building in China. He quotes President Obama, who bemoaned the lack of infrastructure progress after the passage of the $787 billion American Recovery Act by saying “there’s no such thing as a shovel ready project.”

With regard to clean energy both books highlight the need for massive new infrastructure to deliver energy from point A to point B. I heard Klein, in a recent podcast, ask a relatively simple question to his guests, who were critics of his book. That question was “why are red states building out more green energy projects than blue states?” By my hearing there simply was not a good answer for that from the guests.

Finally there is more from the book:

“It likely goes without saying that rendering government incompetent is a lousy way to draw voters into an ideological movement bent on employing government to solve big problems. Ordinary people who experience the morass of inept bureaucracy will, like New Yorkers frustrated with Mayor Ed Koch’s inability to restore Wollman Rink, be tempted to turn to someone with the individual moxie to get the job done.”

Dunkelman, Marc “Why Nothing Works Who Killed Progress -And How to Bring It Back. Pg. 330

I did say above I would have a bit more to say on the requirements cited as impediments to Mayor Koch completing the ice rink. I do agree that they are problematic. I have to say that the CEO of a city must have the determination, and some knowledge, to see projects through by force of will. That means investing time and political capital to ensure that a project overcomes difficulties and roadblocks. Without that investment from a CEO even projects with no discernible difficulties can quickly turn to disasters. If you have the right people who are willing to have some unpleasant conversations even tough projects can be completed.

This is another worthwhile book contributing to a real debate in the Democratic Party. It is well worth the time, even if you have read the Klein book.


The David Brooks column “We Can Achieve Great Things”




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A Look at “Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Posted on April 25, 2025 by billmanzi

Abundance by Ezra Klein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ezra Klein, with Derek Thompson, has written the most important book of the year that is targeted at Democrats but should be read by all. Klein has the most fascinating and informative podcast (IMO) on the air today. The high quality comes from the diverse viewpoints brought onto the show, with many people of the right coming on to discuss the theory of the case from their perspective. Klein has not been afraid to call out what must surely be considered political malpractice by the Democratic Party where he believes it exists. Bit that is a story for another day.

I had written about, in a blog post, a column Klein had written for the New York Times in May of 2022 called “What America Needs is a Liberalism That Builds.” This book builds on that column, bringing forth the proposition that much of the regulation and burden that has been layered into American governance is now creating governmental dysfunction. Much of this dysfunction of governance is in blue states, which Klein acknowledges. In that column Klein references a talk on industrial policy by Brian Deese, which gives us a flavor for the main thesis of the book.

“The first step is admitting you have a problem, and Deese, to his credit, did exactly that. “A modern American industrial strategy needs to demonstrate that America can build — fast, as we’ve done before, and fairly, as we’ve sometimes failed to do,” he said.
He noted that the Empire State Building was constructed in just over a year. We are richer than we were then, and our technology far outpaces what was available in 1930. And yet does anyone seriously believe such a project would take a year today?
“We need to unpack the many constraints that cause America to lag other major countries — including those with strong labor, environmental and historical protections — in delivering infrastructure on budget and on time,” Deese continued.”

Ezra Klein What America Needs Is a Liberalism That Builds New York Times May 29, 2022

On budget, and on time. What a thought.

Let us begin with more on the central tenets of the book. Klein and Thompson mention California as a great state in so many ways, including the fact that as a stand alone economy it would be the fifth largest GDP in the world. But there is more to that story.

“Liberals should be able to say: Vote for us and we will govern the country the way we govern California. Instead, conservatives are able to say: Vote for them, and they will govern the country the way they govern California! California has spent decades trying and failing to build high-speed rail. It has the worst homelessness problem in the country. It has the worst housing affordability problem in the country. It trails only Hawaii and Massachusetts in its cost of living. As a result it is losing hundreds of thousands of people every year to Texas and Arizona. What has gone wrong?

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 17

That loss of population will have major, and highly negative, ramifications for Democrats in 2030. But I digress. As we digest the political victory of Donald Trump the authors point to another book that makes a point central to this book:

“…the political scientists William Howell and Terry Moe write that ‘populists don’t just feed on socioeconomic discontent. They feed on ineffective government-and their great appeal is that they claim to replace it with a government that is effective through their own autocratic power.’”

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 17

The authors have laid out some of the consequences of ineffective governance. What examples do they cite? Of course housing is a big one, with housing restrictions bringing down supply and driving up price, especially in cities that have been engines of growth. Some eye-popping statistics, and a look at how zoning rules have morphed into an anti-growth tool in so many localities. The authors look at a tale of two cities in California: Lakewood and Petaluma. They cite the massive housing growth of Lakewood to accommodate returning veterans after the war as contrasted with the “Petaluma Plan” that imposed a growth cap of 500 new housing units annually. This anti-growth zoning took hold in California, with the results you might expect:

“Today, California is more Petaluma than Lakewood. In the 1950s and 1960s, California routinely built more than 200,000 homes each year. Since 2007, California has never once permitted more than 150,000 new homes. In Los Angeles, fewer homes were built in the seventies than in the sixties, fewer in the eighties than in the seventies, and fewer in the nineties than in the eighties, even as the cities overall population grew.”

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 37

Of course this trend is not limited to California. Similar restrictions, as well as other zoning restrictions, such as limiting development to large single family parcels, has managed to create scarcity and drive up housing pricing. The housing piece is so much more than simply the scarcity of supply. The authors look at the impact of zoning and regulation on “construction productivity” with some great insight.

The poster child for the results of ineffectual governance is the total failure of the Los Angeles to San Francisco high speed rail line. While it has not formally collapsed it is at a standstill. Originally approved by California voters in 2008 at an estimated cost of $33 billion, with completion projected by 2020, that project received federal funds to go along with the state funding. It had, at that time, strong federal political support from the Obama Administration. The authors point out that the environmental reviews for this project started in 2012, and as of 2024 were still ongoing. That fact alone is an outrage, and part and parcel of the ongoing problem of how well intentioned regulations have simply morphed into project killers. The authors look at the cost of rail, as well as the many legal impediments to construction.

“It costs about $609 million to build a kilometer (about 0.6 miles) of rail here. Germany builds a kilometer of rail for $384 million. Canada gets it done for $295 million. Japan clocks in at $267 million. Portugal is the cheapest country in the database, at $96 million. All those countries build more tunnels than we do.”

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 77

The authors move into multiple other areas where fossilization and self built obstacles prevent the achievement of even a modicum of progress in government. They highlight science and energy as two other areas where the United States is just not achieving results that will keep us globally competitive. As men of the left they understand and empathize with subsidies but recognize subsidizing a commodity that is scarce does not truly solve the problem. (See housing) They advocate for policies that will bring “abundance” to key sectors of the economy by removing obstacles that we, in many cases Democrats, have placed in the way.

“The word ‘abundance’ speaks of a cornucopia, all good things for everybody. But the world of abundance has trade-offs, and trade-offs require choices. Liberals spent decades working, at every level of government and society, to make it harder to build recklessly. They got used to crafting coalitions and legislation that gave everyone a bit of what they wanted, even if it meant the final product was astonishingly expensive, or slow to construct, or perhaps never found its way to completion at all. To unmake this machine will be painful. It will require questioning treasured nostrums and splitting old alliances.”

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 213

Finally, for Democrats wondering how the Biden legislative record did not have more of a positive impact on voters there is this:

“A difficulty that Biden and Harris had in trying to run on their record in 2024 was that few communities were yet seeing benefit from all this construction their policies were meant to spark. The infrastructure bill, for instance, included $7.5 billion to build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations; by March 2024-more than two years after the bill was passed-only seven new chargers were up and running”

Klein, Ezra, Thompson, Derek: Abundance pg. 213

Passing legislation is not enough. Building out of the benefits that flow from the legislation is how you impact voters.

The authors have taken some heavy incoming from the left, outraged that someone might point out that we cannot seem to build key infrastructure as fast as we did in the 1950’s. They apparently would like to keep losing elections, and losing the global economic race with China. The Marc Dunkelman book (review coming), as well as this one, cites the activities of Robert Moses as a driving force in creating the excess regulation held up as needing reform. It should be noted that Moses used some methods that were pretty awful, but not everything he did was wrong. He built some magnificent infrastructure.

A vitally important book, well worth a read. The authors have in fact created a bit of a firestorm nationally in Democratic Party circles. It is a debate long overdue.




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David Brooks on Education and Tariffs

Posted on April 12, 2025 by billmanzi

I do not have the opportunity to post as much as I would like but will do better in the coming months. The world is moving fast and there is so much to talk about. I have gotten away from giving views on a specific opinion piece but I bumped into the recent David Brooks column in the New York Times and I felt it was important enough to point out.

Brooks, due to his views being centrist (pragmatic?) tends to take heavy fire from both left and right. That is, for me, evidence that he is expressing views that make some sense. His latest column is eye opening on the educational issues he highlights, and like an earlier column (on stupidity) his frustration is palpable. The column title is “Producing Something This Stupid Is the Achievement of a Lifetime” and reflects his frustration, but it is worth a read.

With all of the problems the country is facing Brooks highlights some educational data that should be at the very top of the problem list. He bemoans the clear inability of so many in the country to reason and connects it to education.

The percentage of fourth graders who score below basic in reading skills on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests is the highest it has been in 20 years. The percentage of eighth graders below basic was the highest in the exam’s three-decade history. 

That is some terrifying data, and the problem is not limited to grade school.

Tests from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that test scores in adult literacy have been declining over the past decade. Andreas Schleicher, the head of education and skills at the O.E.C.D., told The Financial Times, “Thirty percent of Americans read at a level that you would expect from a 10-year-old child.” He continued, “It is actually hard to imagine — that every third person you meet on the street has difficulties reading even simple things.”

Brooks ties this data to the ability to reason, and to be prepared for all of the challenges that life throws at you. He believes, with some justification, that the collapse highlighted by the above data has been brought on by the excessive “screen time” that so many kids (and adults) are captivated by. Brooks is not anti-internet but believes that “mindless scrolling” of Tic-Toc and X is akin to taking a “sledgehammer to your head.” He bemoans the complete turn away from reading, which is one of the reasons the column was so compelling. I have seen it first hand, with some folks actually bragging that they just do not care to read books while maintaining some pretty strong opinions on subjects that reading may have brought a fuller understanding of. Brooks cites General James Mattis:

As the retired general Jim Mattis and Bing West once wrote, “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

Some pretty good advice from General Mattis. Brooks gives us some anecdotal observations from college professors that bring the problems highlighted above to the college campus, and in tying it together at the end shows his frustration at how President Trump got himself so jammed up with the tariff policy, indicative of the simple failure to have a coherent plan or policy.

Brooks is pretty hard on the fiasco that has become the Administration’s tariff “policy” and ties it to the lack of ability to reason. As mentioned I believe it expresses his frustration with the chaos that has surrounded much of this rollout, and in todays tribal political culture may infuriate supporters of the President. But the larger points on where the country is headed educationally, and the issues on reading should not be lost. I hope you take the time to read it.

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The Seabrook Town Budget 2025

Posted on February 17, 2025 by billmanzi

The Seabrook proposed Town Budget is posted below. The budget narrative that does some additional analysis is right above the budget. With the full implementation of the water/sewer enterprise the Town budget that will be supported by the property tax has declined by $4.5 million. This budget will be voted on on Tuesday March 11. Please get out and vote.

Budget Narrative DeliberativeDownload
Town Budget 2025Download
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The Seabrook Town Warrant 2025

Posted on February 11, 2025 by billmanzi

The Seabrook Town Warrant, as amended at the Deliberative Session, is posted below. There are some important changes to be aware of in this years warrant. The Board of Selectmen have fully moved the Water Department and the Sewer Department to full enterprise status, removing the taxpayer subsidy to the enterprise that had surpassed $2 million before the change. I will say more on that when I post the budget. For the warrant the water budget and the sewer budget will each have a separate article (articles 9 and 10) that will be fully supported by water and sewer rates and fees.

The Select Board, with unexpended fund balance exceeding $6 million, voted to utilize those monies to fund all capital spending requested through this warrant. That decision would fund, if approved by voters, $639,000 of spending on these projects. If all pass that amount would not need to be added to the calculation of the FY 2025 Tax Rate, saving taxpayers $639,000.

There are three requested bond issues, all associated with the water/sewer enterprise. If passed these bond issues would be fully funded by water/sewer rates. Article 5, for water, would allow the Town to connect existing water wells to our treatment plant. These wells would provide Seabrook with our first new sources of water in many years, and provide water security for the Town for at least twenty years. Article 7 seeks bond funding for renovation and upgrade of our wastewater facility, which has reached an age where such work is vitally necessary to protect this critically important Seabrook infrastructure.

There are three one year collective bargaining agreements with the Seabrook Employees Association, the Seabrook Supervisory Employees Association, and the Seabrook Police Association. Those three units are all out of contract, and these three agreements only contain Cost of Living Adjustments, with no additional provisions.

Article 36 is a community aggregation electricity program that would, if approved, bring lower electricity rates to Seabrook residents and businesses by seeking, through a contracted third party, to solicit bids for electricity that would be priced lower than the default price of Unitil. Residents could opt out at any time, and even opt back in if desired.

Article 38 is simply a matter of providing the Town of Seabrook with clear title to land that we currently possess but determined through legal research did not have clear title to. This article will not cost the Town but will provide the clear title necessary for Seabrook to continue to use the land without issue.

Article 39 would allow the leasing of a small tract of land for an electronic sign that would face Route 95 and bring the Town annual revenues of at least $140,000.

Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 11. Please get out and vote.

2025 Draft WarrantDownload
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What Ails the Democrats: A Look at Party of the People by Patrick Ruffini

Posted on February 10, 2025 by billmanzi

Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP by Patrick Ruffini

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A book written by a Republican that Democrats should be paying attention to. Patrick Ruffini wrote this book before the 2024 election, and for those who have expressed some shock at the Donald Trump victory maybe a look at some of the key data contained in this book might have lessened that shock or helped to explain it after the fact.

I picked up knowledge of the book from the Ezra Klein podcast that produced a fascinating show with Ruffini. I do not think you can review this book without a reference to the book “The Emerging Democratic Majority” by John Judis and Roy Teixeira (and Ruffini refers to it often) in framing the discussion. (They have since written a follow-up, “Where Have All the Democrats Gone?”)

Judis and Teixeira, in 2002, forecasted, with some caveats, that the demographic tide that was increasing minority numbers in the United States would accrue to the electoral benefit of the Democratic Party. The assumption was that Hispanics, and Asians, would continue to vote predominantly for the Democratic Party. In combination with increasing Democratic strength with the professional class this theory of the case had Democrats emerging with an electoral base that would make them the majority party. I remember discussions of Texas being in play. I have, of course, oversimplified the Judis-Teixeira theory, but it will suffice for this review.

Ruffini gets to hard data, which was available to everybody before the 2024 election. We know that the basic divide in the country is between those with a college degree and those without a degree. The “professional class” had been, traditionally, solidly Republican. That has changed dramatically in favor of the Democratic Party. The Democratic hold on the white working class, a traditional source of strength over the years, has been slipping. It is not slipping any longer but is in free fall. To go back to Judis-Teixeira these losses for the Democrats would theoretically be made up by the strong hold of the party on so called minority groups. That is where Ruffini starts this evaluation.

The 2020 Presidential data, even with a Trump loss, should have set off alarm bells for Democrats. It would appear to me that no alarms were sounded. Some examples:

“With the suddenness of an Infinity Gauntlet finger snap Miami-Dade reset the conventional wisdom, thrusting the political world into a new reality, one where a second Trump term was within sight. In the largest Hispanic metropolis in America, Trump had gone from a 29-point drubbing four years earlier to just a 7 point deficit, a 22-point swing. …Trump had surged all along the Mexican border with Texas, including a 55-point swing in rural StarrCounty in the Rio Grande Valley, nearly winning a county that Clinton had captured four years earlier by 60 points. He won next door Zapata County, the first Republican since 1920 to do so.”

Ruffini, Patrick Party of the People pg. 10

These were not simply outliers, but reflective of nationwide trends. What was the constant? The college/non college divide was now being reflected in minority communities.

As Ruffini dives into the data he gets to one of his theories of the case. The gravitational pull of college educated white liberals has pulled the Democratic Party so far left that they have moved way beyond the ideological comfort zone of much of its rank and file, including and especially working class minorities.

“The ‘Latinx’ debacle provides an obvious and extreme example. A 2020 Pew Research Center study found that the gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina is known by fewer than one in four U.S. Hispanics, and used by just 3 percent. When we asked in a 2022 survey what term was best to use to describe Hispanics or Latinos in America, 9 percent of white liberal Democrats said Latinx, but zero Hispanics did. …Democratic representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona has pleaded with the parties allies to stop. ‘To be clear my office is not allowed to use ‘Latinx’ in official communications,’ tweeted Representative Gallego in December 2021. ‘When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use.’”

Ruffini, Patrick Party of the People pg. 109

You might think that is an example that does not mean much, but it is reflective of a mindset that is separating key constituencies from the Democratic Party. The drift of the working class away from the Democratic Party is not new. Ruffini goes back to the 1976 political science journal article by Everett Carll Ladd (link at my blog post.) The “hard hat riot” in New York where construction workers attacked Vietnam War protestors was an early sign of the divergence. That divergence moved to the cultural, where the chasm has just continued to widen. After continued labor support for the Nixon position on the Vietnam war a young aide named Patrick Buchanan saw the possibilities and outlined them in a memo to Nixon:

“It should be our focus to constantly speak to, to assure, to win, to aid, to promote the president’s natural constituency-which is now the working men and women of the country, the common man, the Roosevelt New Dealer. There is a great ferment in American politics; these, quite candidly, are our people now.”

Ruffini, Patrick Party of the People pg. 166

Even the younger Buchanan saw the potential that he would attempt to exploit as a Presidential candidate many years later, and that Donald Trump would successfully exploit in 2016.

There is just so much more to talk about on this subject. Ruffini, using data, has shown some things that we knew, but some things that were maybe not so well known.

1. The main split in the electorate is between those with college degrees and those that do not have degrees.
2. This divide, which had principally shown itself in the white working class, has begun to spread to other segments of the population (minority groups that had been seen as reliably Democratic)
3. The Democratic losses can be attributed to a misreading of the cultural values of some of these groups. Kitchen table issues, fear of crime, and a strong dislike of illegal immigration are key issues for many in these groups, with these issues not at the top of the Democratic Party agenda, or where they were the messaging was poor.

I thought the last quarter of the book was weaker than the strong start, but it gets five stars as the message, especially for Democrats, is critically important to understand. The follow-up by Judis-Teixeira has to be next up.


The Ezra Klein Interview with Patrick Ruffini

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HL_YhlMbheQ?si=9Kh4ZdgH5G4r_H_X

Liberalism Upside Down by Everett Carll Ladd Jr.

An interview with Ruy Teixeira
https://www.youtube.com/embed/XGdSSJ6uVHw?si=Otk0xJ2nkBPj80df



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A Look at Reagan: His Life and Legend

Posted on February 1, 2025 by billmanzi

Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Max Boot has produced a biography of the Gipper that he explicitly says is neither hit job or hagiography, and I believe that the book bears that out. It is an even handed approach that recognizes the positives without ignoring the negatives.

Like everything else these days the issue of Donald Trump comes up in the introduction. “Did Reaganism contain the seeds of Trumpism?” I think the reader can make those judgements on their own, but Boot gives us plenty to think about.

This book is a genuine biography, and not simply a look at the Reagan political career. I learned a lot, as there was much about Reagan’s early life that I did not know. Boot has done a good job on the early life, and there is a lot to cover. Most certainly there is a lot of ground to cover. Might have been enough for multiple volumes that would have allowed for a more detailed look at the political life, but I have no complaints.

Reagan, to his critics, was always considered to be an intellectual lightweight. I have been of that belief myself, but Boot shares the complexities of Reagan, and I think the truth is more nuanced. His early life shows us Reagan with a tough childhood, and plenty of excuses for failure. But he was deeply ambitious, and he made his way out of his home roots to first become a star of radio, as a broadcaster, and while thriving in that profession Reagan showed himself willing to reach higher by leaving the job for an opportunity in Hollywood, signing a studio contract that led to his eventually becoming a legitimate, and popular, movie star. His family struggled financially, and that fact led Reagan, much like many Americans, to idolize FDR, and to become a New Deal advocate. Of course this changed, and Boot does an excellent job of showing us that evolution of the Reagan political thought and affiliation.

Reagan’s evolution started with his ascendancy to the Presidency of the Screen Actors Guild at a time when the red scare was engulfing the nation, and Hollywood. His strong anti-communism started here. Boot does a good job of mixing the life with the politics, with good insight on his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, and how Reagan’s increasing interest in politics was a contributing factor to the breakup.

Reagan, despite being a legitimate star at Warner Brothers, eventually lost his star luster and was in difficult shape professionally. He ended up getting other than movie gigs, eventually becoming the host of the General Electric Theatre on the new medium of television. He was the host of this show for eight years, and a corporate spokesman for G.E., traveling the country to push G.E. products. His political interests continued to sharpen, and his political leanings moved right. By the time that journey was complete Reagan was ready to hit the political stage. He made a tremendous, and positive, impression with the Republican Party by his speechmaking on behalf of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 Presidential election. Reagan as “the great communicator” on the political scene, started here.

Reagan’s ascent on the political scene could not have occurred without the support of Nancy Davis, who became his second wife and guiding light. Boot gives Nancy Reagan the central role that any biography of Ronald Reagan should.

Reagan’s election as Governor of California in 1966 was central to his eventual rise to the Presidency. We get a look at the campaign, and the players who helped him to win that race against incumbent Pat Brown (father of future California Governor Jerry Brown)

Reagan’s tenure as Governor gave us a look at the governing style of Reagan, which he would carry into the Presidency. Reagan spoke like an ideologue, and often times used some fairly harsh rhetoric. His “reputation” as an ideological warrior of the right gave him chops with the right, but Reagan, when faced with difficult choices, showed himself willing to cut a deal. His eventual compromises as Governor, and President, included concessions on abortion, on tax increases, which happened on more than one occasion, and even on guns. These compromises just would not be possible today for any Republican. Reagan showed himself to be a governing pragmatist. This pragmatism is always overlooked by Republicans who have created a legend of the Reagan Presidency that does not always comport to reality.

Reagan’s flirtation with the Presidency is obviously a big part of his story. The unsuccessful challenge to a sitting Republican President, Gerald Ford, was a contributing factor in the Ford loss in 1976 to Jimmy Carter. That fascinating campaign is a great part of the book.

Any biography of Reagan has to look at his central role in the relationship with the then U.S.S.R. Reagan famously said of his idea on how the cold war would end: “We win, they lose.” He was willing to vastly increase military spending, and most certainly was an internationalist. His ideas of the possibility of doing away with nuclear weapons alarmed his own advisors, and his negotiations with General Secretary Gorbachev are covered extensively. Reagan is seen by many as the driving force behind the policies that led to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Boot is not entirely convinced on that score, but Reagan can fairly be given much credit for that eventual result.

The pratfalls of the Reagan presidency, including Iran-Contra, are of course covered, and Reagan does not come off well. He was always a delegator, but delegators tend to get themselves in trouble when the staff is divided, or worse goes off on adventures that may be illegal. Reagan, by the end of his Presidency, had some staff changes that did not serve him well. Losing Jim Baker as Chief of Staff, and bringing in Don Regan, proved to be a disaster for him.

Reagan as an individual gets a close look, and we see that despite his geniality and warmth to people he was essentially a loner, with even close staff never really getting anywhere near him.

Boot’s book is a serious work on Ronald Reagan, and I think a fair one. I rate it highly, and it brought to me a better understanding of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan


https://www.youtube.com/embed/MfQGQeE57IY?si=0AKE5w195JCUKFPk

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WX00QkvK-mQ?si=A9DoM2ryzU5-mRca



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A Look at “The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party” by Michael Tackett

Posted on December 21, 2024 by billmanzi

The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party by Michael Tackett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A fine biography of the longtime Republican Senate leader who has just stepped down from his leadership position, which he has held since 2007. McConnell is the longest serving party leader in Senate history and certainly one of the most consequential Senate leaders to ever occupy the position. As a Democrat I certainly found many of McConnell’s actions objectionable but that is not important for the purposes of the review. McConnell, in several key areas, has had an outsized impact on the results, whether it be campaign finance, the Supreme Court, and politically strengthening the GOP in the Senate.

One of the best aspects of the book is the truth that came from McConnell himself. When called out for some positions he took earlier in his career (he actually supported campaign finance reform at one point) McConnell simply admits to political expediency as a justification. He is also quite open about some of the early career fights that happened in Kentucky in a way that you might not expect from someone as tight lipped as he is. He was even willing to admit gaining political revenge on a fellow student who had worked against him in a run for a student leadership position. When that fellow popped up on his radar screen many years later McConnell exacted revenge. He has a long memory.

Prior to reading the book I was unaware that McConnell had contracted polio as a child. The story of how his mother fought for his health in difficult circumstances, with his father being in wartime service, brought home how mothers can influence, and in some cases save their children with love and care.

McConnell’s actions in so many areas have stoked controversy, and deep animus from Democrats. One of these areas is obviously the Supreme Court. This story does not start with Derrick Garland, but rather with Robert Bork. Bork, nominated by President Reagan to the Supreme Court, was rejected by the Senate in a highly contentious process. McConnell, as he would later on the issue of filibusters, issued a warning that the Democrats were changing the rules of the game in a way that could bring regrets, or gridlock, later. He debated then Senator Biden on the issue.

“McConnell had his law journal article on Supreme Court nominations entered into the record and stood by its central thesis, that the Senate should judge nominees by their qualifications more than their philosophies, which he argued was the province of the president. ‘It was pretty clear to this Senator back in those days, and it is still clear to him today, that if we decide that the Senate and the President are on coequal footing on these nominations -in other words, any inquiry that is relevant to the Senate-we have a formula for gridlock in the future. What disturbs me is that if a majority of the Senators in this body today decided for whatever reasons that the test is no longer competence or qualifications or a variety of other questions of fitness, but that we instead should look at all of the criteria that a President, any President, might take into account, we have a formula for gridlock. If the Senate happens to be conservative at a given moment and the President is a liberal, he might never be able to get a nominee approved.’”

“The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party” pg. 132

Without getting into the argument on Bork McConnell’s prediction ended up becoming reality.

On the filibuster McConnell objected to the Democrats filibustering many George W. Bush nominees to the federal appellate courts. Filibustering judges had not been the norm, and McConnell issued a warning:

“The sad thing for the Senate as an institution is that the old view that you would never kill a judge on a filibuster is over, and one day there will be a Democratic president and those chickens will come home to roost, McConnell said in December 2023. Democrats, he said, were being ‘very short sighted because they’re just living in the present and not thinking of the impact of this on them when they get somebody they like in the White House. Now there will be no barriers against defeating liberal judges in the future…I think it’s unfortunate but I think it is with us forever.”

“The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party” pg. 185

Another McConnell prediction that was prescient. And to boot there was the course of action chosen by Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who, tiring of GOP filibusters against Barack Obama nominees, enacted the so called “nuclear option,” eliminating the filibuster by a rule change on nominees for the lower courts. McConnell issued the requisite warnings of payback there as well, and when the time came that rule change came back to bite the Democrats hard. They were unable to filibuster Republican nominees in the future (see Trump, Donald) but McConnell, using Reid’s actions as precedent, moved to abolish the filibuster with a GOP majority, for Supreme Court nominees as well, paving the way for straight party line votes for Supreme Court justices. McConnell, to his credit, did indeed play a long game. Democrats, to his point, played a very short game.

McConnell was a major player in the ultimate destruction of the campaign finance reforms pushed by John McCain and others, including Massachusetts Congressman Marty Meehan. He was a block of granite, fighting against campaign finance reform, and ultimately prevailing. The current system, essentially a free for all allowing money to flow largely unregulated, can be laid at his feet. And he is not at all regretful.

The book gives a quick reflection, by McConnell, on the Senate career of Lyndon Johnson. McConnell read “The Master of the Senate” by Robert Caro, and while acknowledging the LBJ skill also pointed to “luck” as a factor in the Johnson success. If he did read it he likely did not do so with great attention, as luck had very little to do with the Johnson ascension to Leader in the Senate.

McConnell’s blocking of Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court in Barack Obama’s last year cannot be attributed to past actions by the Democrats. It was simply a naked power play designed to stop Obama from making an appointment. Much like his earlier admonitions to the Democrats on the filibuster this action will likely, at some point, rebound to the dismay of the GOP. So be it.

The Mitch McConnell we see is someone geared towards winning elections for the GOP, and willing to use the levers of power to achieve his objectives. He has to be considered one of the greatest legislative tacticians in the history of the Senate, even if you are on the other side of the political fence. Joe Biden has shown that McConnell can be a productive legislative partner where there is perceived benefit for his side. He has been considered, by Democrats, to be the personification of everything bad about the GOP. But as McConnell brings his career to a close he is increasingly seen that way by the MAGA movement that has taken over the Republican Party. Donald Trump has referred to him as that “old crow” and he has been openly attacked, both in the Senate and outside the Senate, for opinions that no longer match up with MAGA beliefs. McConnell has been old school on NATO, and especially on U.S. aid to Ukraine. These views, his desire for legislative order, and his open dismissal of MAGA affiliated candidates for Senate, have not endeared him to the MAGA faithful. Tackett’s title says it all. He lost his Party, even while producing for them, great victories.

This is an outstanding book, and I highly recommend it. Even for Democrats.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mfCoLNphq3I?si=RUW6aibFXtwxAaFU


Mitch McConnell’s gift package for the Kentucky Derby included a bottle of Old Crow bourbon, to have some fun with the Donald Trump designation of him as an Old Crow.

Donald Trump was not the only President to make fun of Mitch McConnell.



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Seabrook Financial Report 2023

Posted on November 12, 2024 by billmanzi

Budget season in Seabrook has started. As budgets get prepared it is always vital to understand the financial dynamics involved in past budget and tax decisions. 2023 had some truly unique financial headwinds, and this report helps us to understand those while providing data to help to formulate future budgets. I will post the draft 2025 budgets in the next day or so.

Finance Report Executive Summary 2023Download
Seabrook Financial Report 2023Download
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A Look at “War” by Bob Woodward.

Posted on November 2, 2024 by billmanzi

War by Bob Woodward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another book by Woodward, and like most of the prior Woodward books I could not resist. It was a quick, enjoyable read. As always Woodward managed to extract some information/quotes that created some pre-publication buzz around the book. Nobody is better at that than Bob Woodward. He had his usual access to all the top policy makers and with that access authored a pretty good book on the foreign policy challenges that the Biden Administration has faced in the Middle East, and with the Ukraine-Russia war.

I would characterize Woodward as coming from the traditionalist school of U.S. foreign policy, believing in NATO and a larger role for the U.S. in maintaining stability in the world. The book gives us a great look at the run-up to the Russian invasion, and the great work by the U.S. intel agencies in discerning, and then publicizing the Russian intent to invade. The Biden Administration interactions with Putin pre-invasion are highlighted, and for me were some of the best parts of the book.

The conflict in the Middle East, precipitated by the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel, and the Biden Administration response to the tough Israeli military action, is also very well covered. The personal dynamic between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fascinating, and Woodward digs in there. These two have a long and complicated history together. Biden had a difficult hand to play, trying to walk a line that protected Israel and defended the Israeli right to defend itself, but also tried to limit the damage to Palestinians living in Gaza. Biden’s cease-fire efforts, which continue to this day, have failed not because of a lack of effort or smarts but because the principal combatants did not, and do not, desire one. Not even Kissinger would be able to separate combatants that wish to continue fighting.

As I mentioned above Woodward, to me, is a foreign policy traditionalist. While he is relating the actions of the participants he ultimately expresses the view that the Biden Administration has handled the multiple foreign policy challenges very well. There were many items in the book that could be highlighted, but I chose one that shows Woodward’s strong grasp of history and brings forward some of the challenges involved with Germany and NATO. It has often been pointed out that Germany tends to be a laggard when it comes to required defense spending under NATO guidelines. With the U.S. urging the Germans to provide Ukraine the Leopard II tank the Germans resisted.

“But the Chancellor is not enthusiastic,’ she said. ‘He said in one of our meetings, ‘Can you imagine the images of German tanks sweeping over Europe? How are people going to react to that?’”

Woodward, Bob “War” pg. 147

There are many, beyond the Russians, that prefer that the Germans not rearm. Ultimately Biden was able to get the Germans to provide the Leopard, but it took a bit of skill and a deal. The larger issue of Germany remilitarizing is a story for another day.

If you have been an avid newspaper reader some of the book may be familiar, but Woodward always get below the surface. I do recommend the book, and I wonder who will be doing these types of books when Woodward stops.


https://www.youtube.com/embed/lKsiBV_jdOM?si=KiGfF2Mf4KzLa_2m



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