Politics

Courage, Semantics, Personal Knowledge, and “He Knew What He Signed Up For”

October 20, 2017 Military

This comment is well outside the scope of what I usually write about here. But the recent controversy about President Trump’s call to the family of a serviceman killed in Niger began while I was with a group of friends with whom I served in the Air Force. I’m limiting my comments here to the […]

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Is Campaign Finance Data Unusually Dirty Data?

January 7, 2015 Campaign

Is Campaign Finance Data Unusually Dirty Data? At first glance, it sure seems that way. In an idle moment, just poking around looking at different data files, I decided to load some campaign finance data from New York’s Open Data site. Just go to the site, search on “elections,” pick a file and see what […]

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Data Thought for the Day

October 16, 2014 Data

Since the Obama election, and particularly the re-election, politicians have gained a deepening appreciation of the use of data for politics – for tactics, targeting and personalization. It’s just a matter of time – and we can accelerate that time – before they have the same appreciation of using data for governing – including both […]

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Consolidating the Gains in Health Coverage

November 7, 2012 Health Insurance

Across much of the political spectrum and even among some Republicans, I suspect that there will be at least one shared emotion: relief that a very long election campaign is over. One key implication is that there’s now no question that we will move ahead with implementation of the Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare.” There may […]

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More on Political Moneyball

October 27, 2012 Data

John Cassidy of the New Yorker has a nice explanation of Nate Silver‘s statistical approach to forecasting elections and a balanced view of how much weight to give it. He contrasts that approach with that of David Brooks, New York Times columnist, who describes himself as a pollaholic, but who’s ultimately a skeptic. So here […]

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A “Moneyball” Moment in the Presidential Campaign

October 23, 2012 Analysis

With two weeks to go before the election, James Fallows notes the increasing difference between the perspective of the “old pros” who believe that Romney has the momentum that will lead him to defeat Obama and the poll and economics-driven number crunchers like Nate Silver whose current numbers suggest that Obama has the advantage. Fallows […]

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The Presidential Election – Women and Men and the Distribution of Power

October 18, 2012 Election

As I’ll be on the West Coast election week, I voted yesterday. I voted to re-elect President Obama. Those who know me or who don’t, but who read what I write here or on Twitter, certainly won’t be surprised. But if all you know is my fiscal conservatism and my inclinations towards economics, you might […]

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Life Amongst the 47 Percent

September 19, 2012 Economics

Mac McClelland, of Mother Jones, visits her father, a college friend, and others in Ohio’s War on the Middle Class, “Wherein I go home, watch public servants get axed, visit the warehouse of unbearable sorrow, hang with jobless thirty somethings living in abandoned homes, and consider whether my generation is flat-out screwed.” I’d forgotten that […]

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Albany County: Where Poor Politics and Poor Management Come Together

September 9, 2012 County Government

As we head toward this coming week’s primary, a controversy has boiled over in Albany County District Attorney’s race. And rightly so. Attorney Lee Kindlon is challenging the incumbent, David Soares. Initially the controversy was about an allegedly “secret” bonus program, supplementing the pay of some employees in the District Attorney’s Office. The controversy boiled […]

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Wonks and Hacks

September 6, 2012 Policy

Bill Clinton’s speech last night brought it all back. Blending politics and policy, he put the lie to the unfortunate, unnatural and danger of their separation. This is likely to be a setup for a lengthy post. Stay tuned. Anyway, I posted Wonks and Hacks in March, 2004. Here it is in full. Bruce Reed, […]

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