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Posts published in “Day: December 20, 2008”

Metrics for fall 2010

December 20, 2008
Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Ronald Reagan famously asked people in 1980 whether they thought they were better off than four years before; the prevailing answer was negative, and challenger Reagan won. Four years later he asked (at least implicitly) the same thing, and the prevailing mood was more positive; and as an incumbent he won again.

This isn't specifically Northwest in nature, but in an interview with Time magazine incoming President Barack Obama offered a more specific scorecard of his own. It might be useful in evaluating the crowd now moving into power, as the next set of mid-term elections arrive in 2010 - a set of marks Northwest candidates too might be held to. This was Obama's take:

On [domestic] policy, have we helped this economy recover from what is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression? Have we instituted financial regulations and rules of the road that assure this kind of crisis doesn't occur again? Have we created jobs that pay well and allow families to support themselves? Have we made significant progress on reducing the cost of health care and expanding coverage? Have we begun what will probably be a decade-long project to shift America to a new energy economy? Have we begun what may be an even longer project of revitalizing our public-school systems so we can compete in the 21st century? That's on the domestic front.

On foreign policy, have we closed down Guantánamo in a responsible way, put a clear end to torture and restored a balance between the demands of our security and our Constitution? Have we rebuilt alliances around the world effectively? Have I drawn down U.S. troops out of Iraq, and have we strengthened our approach in Afghanistan — not just militarily but also diplomatically and in terms of development? And have we been able to reinvigorate international institutions to deal with transnational threats, like climate change, that we can't solve on our own?

And outside of specific policy measures, two years from now, I want the American people to be able to say, "Government's not perfect; there are some things Obama does that get on my nerves. But you know what? I feel like the government's working for me. I feel like it's accountable. I feel like it's transparent. I feel that I am well informed about what government actions are being taken. I feel that this is a President and an Administration that admits when it makes mistakes and adapts itself to new information, that believes in making decisions based on facts and on science as opposed to what is politically expedient." Those are some of the intangibles that I hope people two years from now can claim.

One from the Northwest

December 20, 2008
Jane Lubchenco

Jane Lubchenco

The Northwest hasn't picked up many spots on the top level in the Obama Administration - none of the full cabinet posts. The top appointment is for administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But that may not be such a minor thing.

President-elect Barack Obama had a few words about that appointment in today's radio/video address:

Finally, Dr. Jane Lubchenco has accepted my nomination as the Administrator of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is devoted to conserving our marine and coastal resources and monitoring our weather. As an internationally known environmental scientist, ecologist and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Jane has advised the President and Congress on scientific matters, and I am confident she will provide passionate and dedicated leadership at NOAA.

Unmentioned there was that she is a professor at Oregon State University (did a presidential brother in law have some peripheral involvement there?). Her university web pages note that she is the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and a professor of Zoology. A descriptive line says she "is an environmental scientist and marine ecologist who is actively engaged in teaching, research, synthesis and communication of scientific knowledge."

You can see some of that fitting into one of the major themes Obama has been developing, an emphasis on science and scientific training; today's weekend address was all about that. And at a point when climate change is going to be driving a lot of policy, a NOAA administrative stands to be a good deal more than just a manager of weather stations. More specifically, Oregon has been in the middle of a string of new developments that relate to just that - wind energy, ocean-wave energy development, a governor's push to use the state as a major electric car staging ground - and Lubchenco's role could have a measurable effect on all those things.