Process liberalism & its casualties

Tune into the latest episode of my new podcast, Urban Affairs! In the newest episode I talk with Vanessa Fuentes, Council member and Mayor Pro Tem from Southeast Austin.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

We talked about a lot: her blue collar upbringing in Brady, Tex., food deserts and America's chronic illness crisis, her thoughts on an "equity overlay" that would exempt parts of the city from HOME, public transit, poverty. Above all else, I was curious to get her thoughts on social media in politics, she's much better at it than most of her colleagues. The sound quality in the first couple minutes of the podcast is sub-optimal, but I'm learning from my mistakes every week!

The liberal response to MAGA: Make government work again

The frequent accusation that government doesn't work well is not unfair. The problem is that the accusation mostly comes from the right, and their only solution is to hand a drug-addled psychopath a chain saw. In some quarters of the left, highlighting waste and inefficiency in government is taboo due to the mistaken belief that admitting there's a problem will only legitimize the right's decades-long crusade to destroy the public sector.

But in recent years there has been a growing number of liberals highlighting the damage that cumbersome regulation and bureaucracy does to the liberal agenda, from affordable housing to clean energy.

This isn't a new idea in city politics, where liberals have for years been waging battles (often against other liberals) to undo zoning rules and other "neighborhood character" regulations that drive up the cost of housing and harm the environment.

But particularly since the election I've started to see a lot more talk about the way that Democratic city, state and federal leaders have failed to deliver on policy promises because of their addiction to process and bureaucracy.