Yes Howard its Small Ball

[grantcart]

Regarding the President's decision to allow limited oil exploration in new lease areas Howard Fineman made the following comment on Countdown:

The hasn't he almost got lost in it they held this very close keys at the White House this really was a surprise everybody around town because the administration knew they wanted to try to control the message to avoid the very problem that you're talking about what's of interest to me here's the frock Obama has prospered with big picture with big concepts for example on health care but the equivalent if this were the health care bill this would be like introducing the health care bill by saying you know what let's start by re decorating all the doctors offices mean this this is small ball for what is supposed to be another big picture plan here on energy that's why it's kinda puzzling.

First, Howard it is a great analogy, small ball and decorating the doctor's office. Its on point. Drilling isn't going to do much for energy independence. If that is all the President is going to do on the issue it is rather silly.

But small ball isn't silly now let me explain it to you.

Small ball, specifically the strategic use of bunts, steals, hit and run and lots of other devices is used in the Major Leagues for one reason; it wins games.

Now long ball fills up the stands and gets more media but the worst thing a baseball team can become is predictable.

Sometimes the President is Hank Aaron hitting fence clearing home runs and sometimes he bunts then steals seconds and scores on a Texas league fly. And both have the exact same weight in scoring. Each count for one run.

Now the game that we are playing is not drilling, or climate change. The game before us is breaking up the solidarity of the Republican Caucus in the Senate. If we don't do that then we can't get anything passed (and I for one think that passing a rules change for the Senate eliminating the filibuster is the highest priority).

We never had 60 Senators. We had 58 Senators that ran on Democratic tickets and defeated Republicans and we had two Senators that ran on non Democratic tickets and defeated Democratic candidates. And now we have 57. If the President can create issues that divide Republican Senators and cause them to fracture their near perfect solidarity then the President and Democratic Senators can work on and negotiate with a few Republican Senators on a bill by bill basis.

Excited about drilling? Of course not. Does the additional drilling in the Gulf bother me? Well it seems that Gulf drilling has worked well to date and drilling in the Gulf has special lease revenue for hurricane affected areas so it is a major revenue source for them. Far off the East Coast. Depends. If its not a lot of oil then it isn't worth the effort and if there is a lot of oil then they need to be perfect in execution. Drilling off of the norther Alaska coast is always a concern because it is a more fragile environment.

But it seems like transporting oil in tankers is much worse than any damage of drilling and we still use a lot of tankers.

In any case the need for systemic action on climate change is much much more important than adding some off shore drilling. If that is the trade off to get started on a world wide move on reducing CO2 then it is an exchange every environmentalist would take.

The key to getting anything done on climate change, immigration, or anything else is getting a few Republicans to break from the "no" to everything Republican caucus. So if the President has to bunt and steal second move to third on a hit and run and then score on a sacrifice fly, all small ball moves then it is 100% better than swinging for the fences on climate change and striking out every time, and right now the Republicans are well positioned to ride out years of inaction if the President isn't successful in wearing done Republican Senate solidarity.

So sometimes it makes sense to have Hank Aaron take a seat and have Maury Wills or Ricky Henderson go to bat the only think I care about is that the President get a package that is substantive in its totality that will start turning the tide on climate change.

Its just unfortunate that KO isn't more familiar with Major League Baseball or he would have understood that sometimes you play small ball to win games.

[Bobbie Jo]

1. Excellent post, grantcart.

Read it in GDP...but thanks for posting it here as well. Makes it easier to find later.

Nicely done.

[Hekate]

2. Much appreciated -- thats a very cogent explanation. nt

[cliffordu]

3. Maury Wills??

now there's a name I haven't heard since the Alou brothers played.......


back home again, better for the wear.

c

[grantcart]

4. So how did the mission go?

"Today there were no clouds in San Diego?"


"The poor French peasant rejoices in receiving some warm French Bread"


"If the tree falls in the forrest and the new born doe is crushed but makes no sound did the tree really make a noise when it came crashing down?"

[cliffordu]

5. The camps are ready and the staff are eager for the first

shipments. I got a look at some of the re-education materials and they are stellar.

The work details will include some very interesting rap versions of popular work chants.

I like the new FEMA.

[grantcart]

6. And here's a useful tip

If you think that you might be scheduled for a re-education camp then do yourself a favor: get some good scissors and polish your barbering skills.

The richest person in a refugee or reeducation camp is always the barber. Even in camp everyone still wants to have a good haircut and look their best. So barbers are always in good demand and in any refugee camp the barber that can make a female resident look attractive will be well paid. Now payment may be in cigarettes or 'personal services' but the best barber in camp will be well fed always have clean clothes and be the quintessential power center for the informal social elite.

[cliffordu]

8. Fuck that, pal.

I'm doing tats. Prison tats.

[NYC_SKP]

9. I'm allowed...

...one post in the BOG.

And I'm gonna waste it saying that I have no idea where you plan to do this prison tat thing, but there are PETA and ASPCA type rules that can get you in a heap of trouble, brother.

Later.



Actually, I can post all I want. But I don't want, just one post today.

[cliffordu]

10. Prison tats in the FEMA camps, Elvis. Try to keep up.

I have a couple o' tasty ones picked out for you big guy, mostly Conan (O'brien) the Barbarian and Foghorn Leghorn.

Diggin' the bunny, man. Fo Sho.

[quiet.american]

7. Further, what's also puzzling is why Howard dropped the ball on being aware of the "big ball" moves.

I didn't see the show, but if Fineman didn't mention any of the other Obama intiatives on energy, then he really dropped the ball.

Some "big ball" stuff that's been up at whitehouse.gov and is found by typing "energy" into the searchbox:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included more than $80 billion in clean energy investments that will jump-start our economy and build the clean energy jobs of tomorrow:

$11 billion for a bigger, better, and smarter grid that will move renewable energy from the rural places it is produced to the cities where it is mostly used, as well as for 40 million smart meters to be deployed in American homes.

$5 billion for low-income home weatherization projects.

$4.5 billion to green federal buildings and cut our energy bill, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

$6.3 billion for state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts.

$600 million in green job training programs – $100 million to expand line worker training programs and $500 million for green workforce training.

$2 billion in competitive grants to develop the next generation of batteries to store energy.

Increasing, for the first time in more than a decade, the fuel economy standards for Model Year 2011 for cars and trucks so they will get better mileage, saving drivers money and spurring companies to develop more innovative products.

The President issued a memorandum to the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances, like dishwashers and refrigerators. Through this step, over the next three decades, we’ll save twice the amount of energy produced by all the coal-fired power plants in America in any given year.

Supporting the first steps of a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide.

On Earth Day 2009, the President unveiled a program to develop the renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. These regulations will enable, for the first time ever, the nation to tap into our ocean’s vast sustainable resources to generate clean energy in an environmentally sound and safe manner.

And more - like funding the development of high-speed rail in this country.

What will it take for the talking heads to finally understand that Obama is not bush league and to do some homework before starting in with the de rigueur "heh-heh" pooh-poohing.

(And enjoyed reading your commentary, grantcart.) :)

[goclark]

11. You hit that one out of the ballpark!

:bounce:

You are so smart ~ my tiny brain was thinking about it this way ~
" President is giving them a little to get a lot in the end."

You really nailed it.

[Cha]

12. A lot of people don't get it..especially H. Fineman..

I see his name..I think of "waterboy"..as in carrying it for years For the gop.

Anyway, The Report, if I remember correctly without looking it up(have to get to work), said they would investigate thoroughly to see if it were a viable place to drill and do it with the least damage environmentaly.

"In any case the need for systemic action on climate change is much much more important than adding some off shore drilling. If that is the trade off to get started on a world wide move on reducing CO2 then it is an exchange every environmentalist would take."

Thanks, grant.