Ignore the people who say that Obama can’t really intend to change the way business is done in Washington if he’s hiring a bunch of insiders to work for him. “Changing medical practice” doesn’t mean hiring carpenters to replace all the surgeons.
Looks as if the Obama transition team, unlike the Clinton or Carter transition teams, has due respect for the amount of good, or harm, Congress can do to a President’s agenda. Ignore the people who say that Obama can’t really intend to change the way business is done in Washington if he’s hiring a bunch of insiders to work for him. “Changing medical practice” doesn’t mean hiring carpenters to replace all the surgeons.
I’m sure I’ll be disappointed somewhere along the way, but so far the transition has the same hallmarks the campaign did: a leader self-confident enough not to be arrogant.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman