Paul Krugman: Naming and Shaming Bush as the Crony Fairy

[kpete]

THE CRONY FAIRY By PAUL KRUGMAN

The U.S. government is being stalked by an invisible bandit, the Crony Fairy, who visits key agencies by dead of night, snatches away qualified people and replaces them with unqualified political appointees.

There's no way to catch or stop the Crony Fairy, so our only hope is to change the agencies' names. That way she might get confused, and leave our government able to function.

That, at least, is how I interpret the report on responses to Hurricane Katrina that was just released by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
.................

Many people thought that FEMA was a lost cause. But Bill Clinton proved them wrong. He appointed qualified people to lead the agency and gave them leeway to hire other qualified people, and within a year FEMA's morale and performance had soared. For the rest of the Clinton years, FEMA was among the most highly regarded agencies in the federal government.

What happened to that reputation? The answer, of course, is that the second President Bush returned to his father's practices.

In other words, the Crony Fairy is named George W. Bush.
.................

So let's skip the name change for FEMA, O.K.? The United States will regain effective government if and when it gets a president who cares more about serving the nation than about rewarding his friends and scoring political points. That's at least a thousand days away. Meanwhile, don't count on FEMA, or on any other government agency, to do its job.

Paul Krugman @ NYT
http://edstrong.blog-city.com/paul_krugman_naming_and_shaming_bush_as_the_crony_fairy.htm

[papau]

1. Paul nails it once again! Why can't our MSM talking heads notice/comment

Inaction by MSM as to saying the whatever is bull has the consequence of indicating that the MSM sees merit in the bull.

But then the MSM may want to be seen as on the side of the GOP.

[electropop]

2. The name game.

I have learned in my career supporting the Government that when a program or agency fails, you change the name and keep going. For example, I have seen these sequences:

UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) -> RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) -> UAS (Unmanned Aerial System)

ISIS (Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System) -> ASI (America Shield Initiative) -> SBI (Secure Border Initiative)

[Frustratedlady]

3. And with each name change....

comes new financing, right?

Right-on article. Wish George would read it.

[electropop]

4. Exactly.

[ReadTomPaine]

5. Right on the money, Paul. n/t