Wondering on Wednesday 3/24/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I've got an eclectic set of wonderment today. Let's dive in, shall we?

According to this article, the Biden administration is putting accountability back into the government, because "(a)gencies were clear, and unanimous, in their desire to have the earlier framework reinstated," according to an OMB official. The guidelines, which were removed on Christmas Eve, relieved agencies from having to set performance goals and track progress against them. One reason for the removal was that folks weren't reading the reports on Performance.gov. Another reason? The Trump administration was focused on getting rid of work that "doesn't lead to impactful change or measurable efficiencies." I'm wondering, how you can determine if measurable efficiencies have been made if you're not measuring them?

Moving from DC to Tennessee, if everything goes as State Rep. Jerry Sexton planned, the Bible will be the official book of the Volunteer State. Sexton gave a couple reasons why the Bible should be the official book, including to "reflect family heritage and underscore the multi-million-dollar industry that is Bible printing in Tennessee." Now, obviously the Bible is not critical to many Americans, including "Buddhist, or Muhammad or any of those religions," as Sexton called them, trying to be respectful to everyone's concerns and "just put the Bible where I feel that it belongs." 

His feelings aside, I wonder about the choice. While Bible publishing may be a multi-million- dollar industry," the healthcare industry in Tennessee is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Maybe the state's official book should be the manual on how to read an insurance claim form?

A researcher asked groups of voters to imagine that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party were each one person, and to identify the characteristics each of those people would have, or, as he put it, to “pretend that the attributes you associate with the Republican party were encapsulated in one person.”

• Five independents and one Democrat defined the Republican Party 'person' using these terms: Stubborn, Conservative, Unreliable, Selfish, Greedy, Ultra-capitalist, Closed-minded, Ultra-religious, Anti-immigrant, and Hypocritical.
• Three Republicans, two independents, and one libertarian used these terms: Fiercely loyal, Fiscally conservative, Responsible, Egotistical, More extreme, Rudderless, Narcissistic, Controlling, Elitist, Fearful, Passionate, Inconsistent, and Divided.

The same groups were asked to define the Democratic Party 'person.'

• The first group used these terms: Community-minded, Humanitarian, Open-minded, Fun, Caring, Globally aware, Accepting of other humans, Diverse in interests, Racially/gender diverse, Futuristic.
• And the second group? Stereotyping, Critical of ideas/of things they don’t like, Underdogs/Uncomfortable in the majority, Empathetic, Patronizing, Hypocritical, Messiah-complex, Utopian-driven, Spend a lot/not fiscally conservative,

I don't see any revelations there, but I do wonder about the Republican-Independent-Libertarian group being so harsh on their own party, and what that will mean going into the next election cycle.

Speaking of the next election cycle, C-SPAN is kicking off the "Road to the White House 2024" this Friday, with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talking up the Westside Conservative Club in Iowa. Whether Pompeo gets to run or not depends on whether The Former Guy decides to run again. With that decision seeming to be on hold until after next year's midterms, everyone else interested in running is forced to get out in front of voters - or at this point, are they just donors?  I also wonder who else will jump into the early fray.

And speaking of elections, how horrible must it be in Israel, I wonder? Yesterday's election apparently has resulted in another no-winner decision, for the fourth time in two years, if the exit polls are right. I can't even imagine having to go through that - it's hard enough having to put up with the mid-terms here. And if those polls are right, there'll be a fifth election later this year. 

Finally, news is breaking that New York's Senate, Assembly, and the Sonofa Gov have agreed to legalize adult recreational marijuana. I haven't seen the bill yet, but it was reported that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said getting this done is "essential" to the state's social and economic well-being - and by that, he means the 9% state sales tax is essential. Some local governments can tack on an additional 4% sales tax. There's more - a whole nother hunk of burning bureaucracy to manage the weed, and fights over what to do with the tax money, naturally. I'm not wondering about all of that - that's the New York way, adding taxes and layers of bureaucracy, and fighting about all of it. 

Well, what am I wondering about? How do I go about getting "Don't Bogart That Joint" installed as our new state song? I respect the folks who picked "I Love New York," our current state song, but I just want to put this song where I feel it belongs. 

What are you wondering about?