2 Jul 2009

Might private, not public, be the dirty word?

by | Date: 2 Jul 2009 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, governance, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Consider: Which of these sectors is the one really doing a number on society? At the birth of the American republic, the word “private” had a sinister connotation. Derived from the Latin privare, meaning to reduce or tear apart, it described behavior often contrary to the public interest. In the late 18th century, a pirate was called a privateer. Today “private” has become a positive, even boosterish word, while “public” carries a shady undertone. “Private sector” has become synonymous with efficiency and innovation, while “public sector” connotes bloat and unresponsiveness, even corruption.… Read More
11 Jun 2009

Eminent Domain Documentary Creating a Buzz on Indie Film Circuit

by | Date: 11 Jun 2009 | posted in: governance | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

More than nine years in the making, the independent film ”Begging For Billionaires: The Attack on Property Rights in America” was selected as a “Best of Fest” feature by the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival and won “Best Documentary” at the Texandance International Film Festival.  In 2005, a divided U.S. Supreme Court gave city governments the authority to take private homes and businesses by eminent domain and transfer ownership to private developers for the purpose of building things like shopping centers, corporate office towers, luxury condominiums and professional sports arenas.

… Read More
15 May 2009

Community-Owned Sports

by | Date: 15 May 2009 | posted in: governance | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Sports, unlike any other business, generates a sense of civic pride and community identity. New Yorkers don’t cluster around the television to cheer on Wall Street investment bankers; Detroit citizens don’t congregate in bars to watch Ford or GM workers build cars. But rooting for the Yankees and the Tigers and the Knicks and the Pistons is a natural communal activity. This web page identifies rules, and models, of organized and professional sports that allow us not only to root for the home team to win, but to root the home team in place.

… Read More
31 Dec 2008

Is Eating Local the Best Choice?

by | Date: 31 Dec 2008 | posted in: governance | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Some 30 years ago NASA came up with another BIG idea. Assemble vast solar electric arrays in space and beam the energy to earth. The environmental community did not dismiss NASA’s vision out of hand. After all, the sun shines 24 hours a day in space. A solar cell on earth harnesses only about four hours equivalent of full sunshine a day. If renewable electricity could be generated more cheaply in space than on earth, what’s the problem?

A number of us argued that the problem was inherent in the scale of the power plant. Whereas rooftop solar turns us into producers, builds our self-confidence and strengthens our sense of community as we trade electricity back and forth with our neighbors, space-based solar arrays aggravate our dependence. … Read More
31 Dec 2008

NY Public Library ‘Trades Naming Rights’ to Greedy Hedge Fund Billionaire for Big Bucks

by | Date: 31 Dec 2008 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, governance, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Recently, the New York Public Library announced it would rename its main library the Stephen A. Schwarzman Library in return for his contribution of $100 million to its $1 billion capital fund drive. As a born and bred New Yorker, I recoiled at the news and the message it sends to future generations of New Yorkers.

The 42nd Street library is by all accounts the jewel in the crown of the New York Public Library system. In both form and function, it honors the word"public." Henry Hope Reed has accurately described the library as "a people’s palace of triumphant glory." … Read More
17 Dec 2008

Voter fraud? No, voter suppression.

by | Date: 17 Dec 2008 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, governance, The Public Good | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Why are we hearing so much about voter fraud and so little about election fraud? After all, the odds of someone voting fraudulently are about the same as those of an American being struck and killed by lightning.

A microscopic evaluation of election data in the 2004 gubernatorial election in Washington state revealed that voter fraud occurred approximately 0.0009 percent of the time. An analysis of the 2004 presidential election in Ohio revealed a voter fraud rate of 0.00004 percent.

… Read More
15 Dec 2008

Sunny Post-Partisanship Sounds Nice, but What’s Obama’s Larger Vision?

by | Date: 15 Dec 2008 | posted in: From the Desk of David Morris, governance, The Public Good | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Responding to criticism that President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet is composed largely of recycled Bill Clinton appointees, Obama’s close advisor David Axelrod told the New York Times, "He’s not looking for people to give him a vision. He’s going to put together an administration of people who can effectuate his vision." A few days later, after introducing his foreign policy team, Obama himself declared, "I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out, and I expect them to implement that vision once decisions are made.”   

Which leads to the inevitable question: What is Obama’s overarching vision? What is the philosophical framework that will animate his administration and guide his cabinet officers to adopt policies different from those they embraced in the past? 

… Read More
1 Dec 2008

Election Methods and Equipment

by | Date: 1 Dec 2008 | posted in: governance | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

While some reformers believe that campaign finance reform will cure many of the ills of our election process, others feel the key is proportional representation, or other, related reforms.  Some have begun to question the very equipment we use to vote.… Read More
25 Nov 2008

Unified Development Budgets

by | Date: 25 Nov 2008 | posted in: governance | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As Greg LeRoy (GoodJobsFirst)points out, "As states grapple with their worst deficits in more than half a century, policymakers seek better data to help with budgeting decisions. But most states spend the bulk of their economic development budgets almost invisibly, in uncollected taxes, a.k.a. ‘tax expenditures.’"… Read More

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