 Joseph White, Ph.D. – Department Chair Department of Political Science, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Director of the Center for Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University |
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Dear Colleagues: Over the past year, President Obama’s decisions about the federal budget have endangered the rest of his own agenda and alienated much of the core of the Democratic Party. Liberal activists cannot figure out if he actually believes the dominant rhetoric about how the deficit is the nation’s major problem, or whether he is just an incompetent wimp who cannot help seeking consensus even when there is no consensus to be found. After writing a chapter on Obama and the budget for an evaluation of the President’s first two years, I think one way to understand both the reasons for and consequences of President Obama’s budgeting decisions is by comparing them to the choices made by another liberal President – LBJ’s decisions about Vietnam. Very best regards, A New Location We are unfortunately unable to continue to gather in the Inamori Center classrooms. Many thanks to Shannon French for arranging that for the past few years, but we have to move on. We are very fortunate that the Kelvin Smith Library has stepped up to help out. So we’ll meet each Friday when classes are in session in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, it is just around the corner to the right. Parking Possibilities The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. There is also on-street parking on both East Drive and Bellflower. Both are fairly short walks from the library. Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers: September 16: The National Broadband Plan: Policy and Politics. Lev Gonick, Vice President of Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer. September 23: Large Scale Utility Energy Storage. Robert F. Savinell, George S. Dively Professor of Chemical Engineering. September 30: The Arab Spring – and Beyond. Pete W. Moore, Associate Professor of Political Science October 7: Outsourcing and Offshoring Legal Services. Cassandra Burke Robertson, Associate Professor of Law October 14: The Campaign for the Republican Nomination for President. Justin Buchler, Associate Professor of Political Science October 21: What Can We Do With Vacant Land in Shrinking Cities? W. Dennis Keating, Levin College Distinguished Professor, Cleveland State University October 28: Should the Workday Include Time for Naps? Research Concerning Sleep and Productivity. Elizabeth Click, Assistant Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. November 4: (Re)Regulating Financial Services: How Laws May Work in Practice. Michael Wager J.D., Squire, Sanders and Dempsey November 11: How are Successful Companies and Successful Universities Alike? Richard E. Boyatzis, Distinguished University Professor and H. R. Horvitz Chair of Family Business, Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. November 18: Wikipedia in the University. Peter Shulman, Assistant Professor of History. November 25: No Session – Thanksgiving Break December 2: University Circle Update. Steven Litt, Architecture Critic, Cleveland Plain Dealer December 9: TBA |