SWANG (LN)- Author, Lecturer of Public Policy, and creator of the Clinton Administration’s National Performance Review, Elaine Kamarck spoke to students and faculty during the Pizza and Politics Series on April 8, 2010 at Lipscomb University.
Kamarck spoke on the topic: Is American Government Broken Beyond Repair: Jobs, Religion, and the Great American Recession.
“The United States government has always struggled to be functional,” Kamarck said, after addressing whether our country is actually broken.
Kamarck made points about how people had changed America as we know it today.
Harry Truman was able to make the Marshall Plan, a plan for the United States to rebuild and create a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe, even though he was “not in good shape” as a president.
Another person Kamarck mentioned was Rachel Carson, who (in the vernacular of the time) was considered an “old maid” from Maine with a low level job.. She did not have much going for her in life. She wrote a book called Silent Spring, which helped jump-start the environmental movement.
“Wow, sometimes the power of an idea moves powerful people,” Kamarck said. “The founding fathers would be pleased with these stories. They wanted a country in which things happened in all sorts of different ways.”
These improvements happened because an unpopular president enforced changes, or because a lowly woman wrote a book on environmental changes. Kamarck spoke highly of America and seemed to have hope for our country.
Having a career in government and politics, Kamarck worked for the White House from 1993 to 1997. She helped to create the Clinton Administration’s National Performance Review, also known as the reinventing government.
After that, she served as the Director of Visions of Governance for the Twenty-First Century and as a Faculty Advisor to the Innovations in American Government Awards Program at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kamarck is the author of The End of Government As We Know It: Policy Implementation in the 21st Century and Primary Politics: How Presidential Candidates Have Shaped the Modern Nominating System.
She helps with research on 21st century government, homeland defense, the role of the Internet in political campaigns, intelligence reorganization, and governmental reform and innovation.
After speaking, she opened up the floor for questions from the audience.
“What makes American politics work?”asked one attendee.
Kamarck answered the question and added how important it is that President Obama is trying to address this first and foremost.
“You can almost predict what Americans are going to care about by the unemployment number,” Kamarck said. “[Obama] will have the luxury of turning to others issues his second term.”
Another attendee asked what a smart choice for Americans economically was, besides going green. She responded by saying that we need to begin by tacking down Wall Street. She believes that we should regulate Wall Street more and the rest of the economy less.
“We have an economy that lets people be creative,” said Kamarck. “We should keep gamblers out and give creators maximum support.”
“What do you think of a 3rd party?” asked one audience member.
She reflected on the past with this question.
“They form, and another party eats them up,” said Kamarck.
She related this to the game Pacman. She said that this would be very hard to actually happen.
Kamarck’s views on the green economy were short and simple.
“It is not here yet,” Kamarck said. “One four-letter word: coal. Coal is plentiful and is really cheap.”
After being asked about the next moral issue, she strongly felt that it was gay rights.
“It is the fastest change in social issues,” said Kamarck. “However, it is ultimately up to your generation.”
Kamarck said that polls show how age makes a huge difference in beliefs. Older people are against it and younger people do not care as much.
“Is it an age issue or a religious issue?” asked an audience member.
“Age,” said Kamarck. She stated that some religious young people are less opposed to gay marriage than older religious people.
In another interview Kamarck did with Lumination Network correspondent Ryan Malone, she was asked to reiterate her thoughts on the U.S./China relationship.
“It is by far and away the most important relationship that the United States has,” Kamarck said. “We tend to be very involved with Afghanistan and Pakistan, but in the long run it’s all about China.
Both on the economic level, that’s the relationship that will govern what will happen in economies all over the world, and eventually on a military level, although not in the near future. They are simply not wealthy enough right now to compete with the United States militarily.”
On the topic of trusting government and the Obama presidency, Kamarck commented that the lack of trust in the American government is something that the Obama administration has struggled and will continue to struggle to overcome.
“That’s why they had so much trouble with the health care plan, even though he had a very substantial victory,” Kamarck said. “I think now that they have won that, they have a second challenge in front of them, which is to implement the health care plan in a way that makes people confident that they are actually going to be able to improve the situation.”
When asked whether she thought there would be a second Obama term, Kamarck said that she thinks there will be.
“I think there are two ways to look at it,” Kamarck said. “One is that this is like the first Reagan term. He did a lot of hard stuff in his first two years, and he lost Republican congressmen and senators in the 1982 midterms, but by 1983 and 1984 he had a recovery on the way. It was, as the commercials told us ‘morning in America again,’ and he won quite a substantial victory in 1984.
“So, 2010 will be tough for Democrats, but if the unemployment rate starts going down, I think Obama will be fine in 2012.”
Kamarck said that the only problem Obama might have in getting reelected is if there is a “double-dip recession,” and if the American public begins to view the recession as Obama’s recession, and not George W. Bush’s recession.
Click here for more information on Elaine Kamarck. You may also purchase her books on www.amazon.com.
Video clip: Pizza and Politics
Photo: Kristi Jones