Michael Franc
Michael Franc
anyone game guess looking state time
My guess is this is not a time when anyone is looking at a zero-sum game between one state or another.
autonomy federal government relationship short sovereigns state states traded wound
You look at the relationship between 50 state sovereigns and the federal government, and the states always come out on the short end of the stick. They've consistently traded autonomy for cash, and they've consistently wound up with neither.
concept define extent launch major natural ownership replace shift society state union
The extent to which he used the State of the Union to launch and define the 'ownership society' concept is important because if you take it to its natural extreme, the ownership society would essentially replace the 'Great Society. That's a major shift from where we've been.
action certain great issues year
They did a lot of tier-two issues that were important to certain constituencies but that, in and of themselves, were not of any great magnitude. It was not a year for, obviously, enactment or even action on tier-one issues.
cuts domestic growth high hit percent round second sooner tax
This second round of tax cuts was probably the high point, domestically, of Bush's administration. No sooner were they put in place, then the GDP (gross domestic product) growth hit 4 percent and it's been there ever since.
boxes cause crises existing federal government innovative occurs response test today within
Crises cause government to grow. The test today will be how much of the federal response occurs within the existing boxes or through innovative ways.
boomers fun middle moment next self struck tackle
Boomers always struck me as very self-centered and self-important, because there are so many of us. We're always in the middle of the next fun moment at some everlasting party, and we're not able to defer the gratification to tackle the long-term problems.
bad happen
Bad things that were going to happen have not happened,
chance create expanding fair given gulf ideas momentum orleans popularity success
If these ideas are given a fair chance in New Orleans and the gulf area, ... their popularity and success will create a momentum for expanding them elsewhere.
becomes decisions difficult election tough
One of the assumptions is that it becomes increasingly difficult to get things done in an election year, especially things where tough decisions have to be made.
aside surprised time
I would be surprised if there's not time set aside to tell that story.
face
The conundrum they face is that they know better.
afford consumer margins people push
It's going to push some people who are at the margins of being able to afford it into the consumer category.
They'd (lawmakers) would like to get a lot of these things out of the way before the end of the year.