It ain't sexy, but it is important.
Kari Chisholm
It's a fairly regular occurrence. A couple times a year, some friend of mine will ask me to help them think about running for office. Usually, it's some random local office - and they want me to help them figure out what it would take to win.
Inevitably, I table that question, and ask the much-more-important question: Do you really want the job? Do you really want to spend your evenings dealing with that annoying dispute between Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, studying and evaluating budget documents for obscure agencies and offices, riding herd on whatever personnel problem is distracting everyone in some office?
When most of us think about politics and government, what comes to mind are the big issues - the controversial stuff that's interesting to talk about, debate about, and blog about. But most of government is really boring. And that's just as true at the local level as it is at the state level, and as it is at the federal level.
Which is why I'm glad that Oregon's got a congressional delegation that's chock full of nerdy wonks. (Can you think of another state that has two more wonky dudes in the Senate? I can't, which is fantastic. The best-dressed nice-hair guy wasn't doing us any good.)
Check out this video from Congressman Kurt Schrader that was posted today. It's just under three minutes - but gives you insight into the kind of legislator he is. Focused on the details:
I'm glad someone cares about this stuff.
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connect with blueoregon
2:09 p.m.
Nov 17, '09
[Full disclosure: My firm built Kurt Schrader's campaign website, but I speak only for myself.]
Nov 17, '09
Kari:Which is why I'm glad that Oregon's got a congressional delegation that's chock full of nerdy wonks.
Huh. Most health care policy wonks I know consider medicare-for-all to be the best way to cut health care costs. I hadn't heard Schrader was a strong advocate of that position.
Most education policy wonks I know consider community colleges to be an essential component of workforce training, which in turn helps people get out of unemployment; as well as serving as an essential bridge into the four year system for those who didn't have the good fortune and opportunity to go straight from high school into universities. They do not, commonly, quip about community colleges being a place where people learn "brain surgery 101 and basket weaving".
Maybe I use the phrase "policy wonk" differently than Kari does.
Nov 17, '09
Someone told me with regard to Kurt was Ways and Means chair that ordinary folks loved him because he gave them straight answers, while state agency people hated him "because he insisted on performance measures".
Along the lines of "if you want more than you have allocated, you need to show evidence of X, Y, Z".
To my mind "policy wonk" is someone who likes to discuss the nitty gritty details--for instance, the best way to fund community colleges so that they can best help with workforce development.
Usage that I have seen has been along the lines of the dictionary.com definition,
"an expert in administration or government, esp. one overly concerned with policy details", not "most health care policy wonks believe...
Matter of fact, I have heard some " wonks " talk about how ending the fee-for-service business model for health care and changing to something like the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc. model would be the one best change that could be made.
Bob, it has been a long time since I have heard anyone "quip about community colleges being a place where people learn "brain surgery 101 and basket weaving".
My first 2 years in college were as a student at Monterey Peninsula College--what was then called a jr. college. Because of the location, MPC was able to attract many highly qualified professors who wanted to live in the area. It also had a significant foreign student population because of a program which would now be called ESL.
Nov 17, '09
"Can you think of another state that has two more wonky dudes in the Senate? I can't,..."
Vermont could put up a really good challenge with Patrick Leahy and, especially, Bernie Sanders.
Nov 17, '09
LT: Bob, it has been a long time since I have heard anyone "quip about community colleges being a place where people learn "brain surgery 101 and basket weaving".
See http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2008/04/legislator_schrader_says_he_fi.html for Schrader making exactly that comment.
Re the definition, I agree about the "expert" part being an element of the correct use of the term. What I dispute is the accuracy of that term being applied to Schrader, on at least those two policy areas. If he thinks community colleges are "brain surgery 101 and basket weaving", and if he doubts that medicare-for-all is the best way to reduce the cost of health care, then he has a lot of work to do to convince me of his expertise in policy matters.
Nov 17, '09
If we penalize every politician who mouths off that will disqualify lots of people---incl. some people who post here regularly.
You might have mentioned that the sarcastic remark you mention came after this "wonkish" statement,
"Last year, he criticized community college administrators for raising tuition while continuing to offer classes with limited appeal. "
Did he say every community college was raising tuition while offering classes with limited appeal? Our comm. college has a min. class size, or the class doesn't happen. Could that possibly be what he was talking about?
One more thing:
Suppose there was an expert on budgets that you and I have never heard of before. Suppose that person wrote a guest opinion or was interviewed on radio or TV and said, for instance, that there are assets and liabilities to the Medicare-for-all plan, and assets and liabilities for the model used by such groups as Cleveland Clinic (something other than fee for service).
Suppose that person or another expert talks about the budgets of community colleges, which ones contract with businesses to do workforce development specialized training, which ones have raised tuition, which have severely cut their course offerings. Is such an expert a "wonk"?
If that person is not a member of Congress, does that person have the right to express those opinions?
I get that you think Schrader is all wrong. But if someone whose voting record you agree with often if not always talked in detail about health care or community colleges and you didn't agree with everything they said, would they be a "wonk"?
Or is a "wonk" an expert who agrees with you on those issues?
Thank you Bill Bodden. I believe you and I agree on the definition of wonk.
5:57 p.m.
Nov 17, '09
Nice grab Kari.
The mindset on display is one of the more important components of a healthy and balance breakfast.
I'm going to tweet Wilford Brimley immediately......
Nov 17, '09
LT:I get that you think Schrader is all wrong.
No. There is a span between "not having demonstrated expertise" and "all wrong".
If Schrader claims expertise in his comments about community colleges, then he should have been able to precisely specify which colleges were, IHO, wasting money. So far as I know, all community colleges (in Oregon) have minimums for class size. If he had specific program changes to make, he should have said so. The "brain surgery 101" comment simply displayed contempt, not expertise.
For health care, he claimed his lack of support for HR 3962 was because it did not bend the cost curve sufficiently. Fine. So, in his expert opinion, what reforms would do so? Has he introduced his own such bill? Made public, in full detail, his preferred plan? Co-sponsored HR 676? Or simply latched onto a Republican/Blue Dog talking point?
The question here is in what policy areas can we reasonably call Schrader an expert (and, thus, accurately call him a "wonk"). So far, I would exclude health care and education, extended to how those two topics impact the economy as a whole.
7:02 p.m.
Nov 17, '09
"If we penalize every politician who mouths off that will disqualify lots of people---incl. some people who post here regularly."
That is SO rich, coming from you--who immediately disqualified Steve Novick for "mouthing off," no matter that he was pretty close to on target in his criticisms, unlike Schrader.
Nov 17, '09
I'm going to tweet Wilford Brimley immediately......
"Maybe you're like me. I suffer from rigor mortis"...
The units are flying off the shelves.
10:51 p.m.
Nov 17, '09
If Schrader claims expertise in his comments about community colleges, then he should have been able to precisely specify which colleges were, IHO, wasting money
Bob, are you saying that Schrader couldn't specify which programs he thought needed cutting?
I think your complaint might be with the limited reporting from the Oregonian in that story (who was, after all, reporting a comment made a year prior as a minor example to illustrate a larger point). Or do you have evidence of some incident where Schrader betrayed an inability to be more specific about community college spending?
11:01 p.m.
Nov 17, '09
said in an honest moment of nerditude: Rad!!!!!
:)
~mike
4:42 a.m.
Nov 18, '09
As someone who has worked with Schrader to secure funding for career and technical education, I find the comments from Mr. Baldwin rather disappointing. I teach at one of Oregon's only facilities where students can be better prepared for the workforce of tomorrow while improving their skills in academics. Schrader visited the Center, saw what the students were doing, looked at the statistics that showed students were doing better in test scores and staying in school. While he was in the Senate he learned this was one of the best ways for students to learn. I'm glad he asked for data because it showed there was more than just one way to make sure students received the education they deserved in Oregon. I'm also glad he is in Congress now so that more students, including those outside of my school district, may get the same opportunities down the line.
Nov 18, '09
Deborah Barnes: I teach at one of Oregon's only facilities where students can be better prepared for the workforce of tomorrow while improving their skills in academics.
Pardon me, but to which Community College are you referring? Or are you referring to the Sabin-Schellenberg Center in the North Clackamas School District, a K-12 district, if I'm not mistaken?
Nov 18, '09
Kari Chisholm: Bob, are you saying that Schrader couldn't specify which programs he thought needed cutting?
I am saying that from my experiance in advocating for CC funding, Schrader demonstrated limited knowledge of our programs, our mission, and how our funding (such as how our EBL is calculated) works. Sadly, as co-chair of W&M, he was in a position to do great harm to Oregon's community colleges.
That said, this started with you making the claim that he does have expertise. I assume you can establish that, beyond his 3 minute vid clip. Or would you stipulate that his expertise does not include health care or education policy?
Nov 18, '09
Really a educative and informative post, the post is good in all regards,I am glad to read this post
4:34 a.m.
Nov 19, '09
Mr. Baldwin,
You are correct. I do teach at the Sabin-Schellenberg Center. My students, and all of the students at the Center, receive college credits through articulation agreements. So, when my students leave my program they could have 15 credits from CCC. My point is Schrader does understand the importance of funding for students. He made sure Oregon lawmakers debated the importance of workforce readiness education in this state.
Nov 19, '09
Posted by: Muscle Might | Nov 18, 2009 9:47:48 PM
Really a educative and informative post, the post is good in all regards,I am glad to read this post
This is really galling. Progressives that say one phrase that you don't like get censored routinely. You can say, "my personal experience indicates " + something politically incorrect, and you are axed instantly. Meanwhile every goddamned spammer in the world writes some menial piece of code that sounds nice and they are never deleted.
Somebody start doing their job and take the trash out!
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