Looking at how polls around the country shift after Iowa and New Hampshire state their presidential preferences, two economists recently likened the impact of one Iowa or New Hampshire voter to that of five “Super Tuesday” voters. The “extreme special treatment” those two states enjoy is undemocratic and unfair to the voters in the other 48 states, argued New York Times economics columnist David Leonhardt. “And it distorts economic policy in several damaging ways,” he said, pointing to ethanol subsidies that please Iowans but “drive up food prices and do little to solve the climate problem” and the two states’ lack of big-city economies and challenges. He called for a system of rotating primaries “so that all kinds — big states and small, younger and older, rural and urban — had a turn.”
Will American voters in 2012 enable the third president in a row to serve two full terms? “The only other time such a string occurred was at the beginning of the 19th century — between 1801 and 1825 — with Jefferson, Madison and Monroe,” noted Robert Schmuhl in the Chicago Tribune, and they were all from the same party (Democratic-Republican Party) and state (Virginia). “What’s distinctive in comparison to the early 19th century is voter volatility, now a central feature of our political behavior. ‘Change’ elections have occurred on the presidential or congressional levels in 1992, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2010 — six of the last 10 times. Yet, amid these turbulent currents, two presidents have won re-election and a third has an opportunity to match the Jefferson-Madison-Monroe streak.”
Considering Gov. Sam Brownback’s aggressive reform agenda, it’s no great surprise that Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rob Siedlecki (in photo) is making major changes in the state welfare agency. According to an SRS statement, the personnel changes are intended to support Brownback’s goals and Siedlecki’s “family-centered initiatives.” But they also sweep away a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge at an agency responsible to protect abused children and deliver services for Kansans with mental illness, developmental disabilities and other challenges. Jean Hogan, the respected regional SRS director for Wichita who was among those ousted last week, told The Eagle: “I want the community to know how important it is for SRS to be the eyes and ears for the safety and protection of children.” Do Brownback and Siedlecki know how important that is? Legislators and social services advocates must watch closely to ensure this “new day at SRS,” as Siedlecki called it, does not lead the agency to neglect its core responsibilities.
Looking at how polls around the country shift after Iowa and New Hampshire state their presidential preferences, two economists recently likened the impact of one Iowa or New Hampshire voter to that of five “Super Tuesday” voters. The “extreme special treatment” those two states enjoy is undemocratic and unfair to the voters in the other 48 states, argued New York Times economics columnist David Leonhardt. “And it distorts economic policy in several damaging ways,” he said, pointing to ethanol subsidies that please Iowans but “drive up food prices and do little to solve the climate problem” and the two states’ lack of big-city economies and challenges. He called for a system of rotating primaries “so that all kinds — big states and small, younger and older, rural and urban — had a turn.”
