Too Many Volunteers

Having been both an underutilized volunteer and a harried coordinator when more people than expected show up, I can relate, on some level, to both sides of the equation in this article on the influx of volunteers in the aftermath of the recession/the President's call for volunteers.  Particularly given the funding cuts at many non-profit agencies, it's understandable that many of the directors are struggling to best use the volunteers.  But as a volunteer coordinator, the attitude should be finding ways to say "Yes," rather than ways to say, off-the-record, "No."  After all, it might be a hard time to run a non-profit, but it's a harder time to rely on a non-profit's support.  

Lock It Up

Read Frank Rich this morning--the piece seems a little all over the place, which usually I appreciate, but I think it's Rich's attempt at being "fair and balanced."  

That's not to say that he doesn't have legitimate beefs with Geithner, Daschle, and the Bob Rubin contingent (to say nothing of the revolving door culture of politicians and business lobbies).  I could do without the I-bank alumni who are going to have a big say in sculpting the regulation of Wall Street, and it's bizarre that so many of the high profile nominees have tax problems (and if they need some part time help vetting from a law student, they should give me a call).  Obviously, not exactly Team Obama's finest moments from my perspective.

But it's a stretch to say that Slumdog Millionaire, which has grossed an impressive, but not overwhelming, $77M in the US is indicative of a populist streak tearing up the middle of the country.  A populist streak among critics and Oscar voters, maybe, but I'd pick Paul Blart: Mall Cop as an example of populism at the box office ($83M in 3 weeks, as of last week).  

And Daschle's withdrawal was the biggest news of last week until zero Republicans voted for the stimulus package, and until we found out that about 600K Americans lost their jobs in January alone.  Now I don't pretend to be anything but a partisan Democrat, but on some level, isn't it more frightening that, in the midst of losing 1.8 million jobs in the past 3 months, there is not one Republican member of the House who can get behind a package that will put people back to work and stop the bleeding?  I know the Daschle/Cabinet problems/taxes are good copy for newspapers, but I feel like the Washington élite are underestimating just how seriously screwed up our economy is.  That also includes the numerous Democrats in the House and the Senate who are proud of opposing/slashing such "frivolous" ideas like Head Start, public transit, and food stamps.

Here's hoping that Obama cleans house of both the revolving door types and the tax cheats.  Here's also hoping that someone other than the President, of any party and the media, can get it together and realize that if this nonsense keeps up and the federal government doesn't start cutting some checks, we might just find out what breadlines look like in HD.  

Roger Cohen

This is just the latest in a recent string of perceptive, quasi-literary op-eds from Roger Cohen.  I'm glad that someone else noted that Sarah Palin egregiously misappropriated "Never Again," a human rights mantra following the Holocaust, for use in the current financial crisis.  Frightening.