Happy Birthday to Randy Milligan, 52. Would presumably have had much more of a career today than back then. The "free so-and-so" campaigns of the 2010s just aren't what they used to be. Not a superstar talent, but a guy who could get on base 40% of the time really should have found a job somewhere.
The good stuff:
1. Amy Lerman over at the Monkey Cage on public opinion, Medicare, and the ACA.
2. I really like Norm Ornstein's contribution to post-nuclear analysis; he's especially good on what happens now to holds, but the whole think is excellent.
3. And Josh Marshall looks for examples of Obamacare McCarthyism.
Wow, it is hard to believe that Ornstein could write the words "the extraordinarily talented and experienced Mel Watt". It is true that Watt has been 21 years in the House, most of them on the Financial Services Committee, but he is not remotely a policy wonk on financial issues. On the Dodd-Frank bill he contributed nothing of substance, and asked very elementary questions at hearings, such as "What is tier one bank capital?" and "Does every bank have tier one capital?" I have been in the financial services industry for 26.5 years, and I have heard no one in my industry speak with respect of Mel Watt's knowledge of financial regulation. Both Democrats and Republicans work in government affairs for Wall Street firms, and none of them have expressed anything but disdain for Watt's financial knowledge. He is clearly going to be in over his head as FHFA Director; the best we can hope for is that he allows himself to be guided by the senior professional staff of FHFA, who are for the most part very capable.
ReplyDeleteWhat do your co-industroids tend to say about Maxine Waters?
DeleteRandy Milligan's career indeed ended with the strike. His last game was that sad Thursday night, for the mighty first-place Expos, just as the Selig default began. [And if Cruz and his ilk are justly reviled for the shutdown shenanigans, why does Selig have a puncher's chance of landing in the Hall of Fame?]
ReplyDeleteKoger has a great piece up at Ten Miles Square.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2013/11/this_scene_from_a_christmas_st047962.php#
From Lerman:
ReplyDeleteCongressional Republicans have consistently voiced their determination to delay implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Funny. It's Obama who's been delaying implementation by 1)implementing awfully 2)allowing favored groups to opt out of parts 3)offering to "let" insurance companies disregard the bill for now to allow people to "keep the policies they like."