Interesting - state department wanted Kerry to wait on foreign aid reform bill

[karynnj]

Background - this is the bill marked up and voted out of committee this week. Link to excellent Prosense thread on the bill - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x6906 ) Apparently, State wanted Kerry to sit on it until they completed two reviews - one of which would not finish until summer or fall next year. That timing would likely mean really waiting until 2011 because with as an election year, it is not clear how long a Fall session would be. Lugar apparently threatened to pull his support. (me - Was this to give Kerry some cover with an angry woman?? Note the staffer says the committee did not want to wait)

A committee staffer confirmed the substance of the account, and explained that the committee simply didn't want to wait until the reviews were completed. The PSD is expected perhaps in January but the QDDR won't be completed until summer or fall of 2010 (State has promised to release an interim report at some point).
<snip I thought I would never have to read these theory of management sentences that I had run diagramming and still not understanding when I retired from corporate America. If this is how they start their review, I predict they will have a team somewhere spending a month or so writing the mission statement that will be a few paragraphs long.>

Slaughter, in a speech Monday at the Center for American Progress, repeated the cryptic mantra that has the whole development world scratching their heads.

"The overall aim of the QDDR is to integrate and elevate development and diplomacy across the spectrum of the American foreign policy," she said.

"You still need to integrate the power of development professionals, the ideas and the expertise, with the political clout and strategy and reach of diplomacy. That seems to me to be the perfect example of integrated power ... and that is what Secretary Clinton would like to see as one of her legacies."

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/16/over_states_objections_sfrc_to_move_ahead_on_foreign_aid_bill

This is an interesting read the tea leaves story. The fact is that a bill put out as Kerry/Lugar will likely pass pretty easily as he is pretty respected by the Republicans. They really need to do something and waiting means it might take years. Also, I suspect the chair has strong, practical ideas on what should be done and may secretly be happy not having to negotiate.

[Luftmensch067]

1. Wow, fascinating!

I like the way he and Lugar really back each other up in situations like this. Kerry would show him respect anyway, but this is where the value of doing so really shows.

The "legacy" referenced sounds to me like someone who is more interested in making her mark than in doing what needs to be done for the greatest benefit. It also does sound very bureaucratic rather than substantive. We SO dodged a bullet in terms of HRC not being as Inevitable as she thought she'd be!

[blm]

2. Bingo - and THEREIN lies the heart of the problem having personalimage creeps like the Clintons

anywhere near serious foreign policy issues.

They've been pulling this shit for way too many years - read either of their books.

[karynnj]

3. I would take the legacy comment differerntly

I think all Presidents and top Senators, Cabinet members etc hope to do something that is recognized as important - and that is the legacy. Here, because the State Department does not even have their USAID director and it is November and they have been slow getting through their own policy review -- as they say, nature abhors a vacuum. The Kerry/Lugar bill will be the first plan and it will be evaluated (informally) by the Development community long before the State plan is even developed. This is Kerry's and Lugar's attempt to cement another piece of legacy for themselves. (Lugar will be remembered for Nunn/Lugar. Off hand under which President did that start?)

Lugar and Kerry do seem to have a very nice respectful relationship and friendship. Even in 2005, Lugar always showed respect to Kerry, more so than to most of the committee members, though Lugar was almost always polite to all.

As to the Clintons, it is an obsession that they improve the legacy they have from the 8 years the country honored them by having them as the first couple. During the primary, before the SC primary there was a comment from a friend of Bill's that he knew that what he was doing hurt his reputation, but he was betting on it winning HRC the Presidency and he thought he would more than recover. It didn't work out that way.

They do have many followers in the media. His foundation has done good work in Africa on AIDS, something Bush did better when you compare their policies - mainly because Bush was pushed to agree to the bill Kerry and Frist first wrote. That is fair, but he also gets praise on green buildings, where unless something changed since the 2008 primaries, nothing has been done. Compare the praise he got to the praise Teresa Heinz Kerry got - yet she was really far more influencial.

[beachmom]

4. I think it is strange to already be talking about "legacy"

How about do the job, and fix things that need to be fixed, and worry about legacy later? I mean, if Clinton was in her last year, MAYBE it would make sense, but I assume she will be in the job until at least the end of 2012, so, well, this is a bizarre time to discuss how you'll look in history. I trust Kerry's ideas and the bipartisan bill much more than the gobbledygook uttered by the State underling.

[karynnj]

5. I agree,

Just like "life is what happens when you are making other plans", anyone's legacy is the sum total of all you do in your career. Here, it was a Clinton person, not Clinton, but you're right, this is far too early.

From the summaries in Prosense's post, the bill looks good.