“Missing the Point”

“Missing the Point” (“MTP,” for short) is the general title for the series of op/eds, listed under “Commentary,” that I’ve been very pleased to have published weekly in the Baltimore Post-Examiner.  Subject matter varies, but they’re mostly about Baltimore and national politics, government and economics.

The writer, Les Cohen.

Here goes, in chronological order with the most recent on top.  Feel free to read as many of these op/eds as are of interest to you and let me know what you think.  Thanks!  I’m looking forward to hearing from you and will do my best to respond to every email I receive.

Note that these are PDF files that you’ll be reading, so the links you’ll see will not be operational the way they are on the Baltimore-Post Examiner originals.

61 MTP – Selling Joe Biden – Oct 11 2023
Joe Biden needs to campaign using the same messaging that got him elected in the first place when Trump was in far less trouble and House still had a Speaker.

60 MTP – What ye sow – Oct 4 2023
The chaos Republicans in the House are so appalled by may be just the slap in the face the party needs to break away from Donald Trump and get back on track.

59 MTP – Beginning of the End of the USPS – Sep 27 2023
We’re talking about a dramatic shift in the way mail service is perceived, from an outdated, over-priced government service to a multi-provider retail product.

58 MTP -Screen Time – Sep 20 2023
We need to discontinue advocacy for the use of screens in our public schools and at home until we fully understand the implications for child development.

57 MTP – Be The Mayor of Baltimore- Sep 13 2023
What you do is skip the primary.  Register as “Unaffiliated,” that is, as an independent voter.  Run for Mayor of Baltimore as a “petition candidate.”

56 MTP – Still Pressing the USPS – Sep 6 2023
And so, in the interest of doing the right thing, whatever the implications, let me encourage the Post Office to offer hard evidence that it does NOT own Columbia’s Cluster Mailbox Units.  And let the truth speak for itself.

55 MTP – Are we taking the climate crisis seriously? – Aug 16 2023
What we need is a moon shot effort that has everyone driving electric cars, an initiative that is consistent with the existential climate crisis we are facing.

54 MTP – Flaw in the System – Aug 9 2023
We can’t hire someone who requires access to our most important secrets without a security clearance, but that same person wouldn’t need one if he were elected.

53 MTP – Mayor Scott’s Financial Disclosure Filing – Aug 1 2023
All evidence suggests that Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott lacks the expertise, experience and quite possibly the common sense to save the city of Baltimore.

52 MTP – Driven – Jul 26 2023
We a driven people obsessed with time, hardworking to a fault, but are we happy?  Are we approaching happiness with the same energy as the work we do?

51 MTP – Loyalty Pledge – Jul 19 2023
The Republican loyalty pledge demands loyalty to the Party over the Constitution and country.  It’s illogical and even idiotic.  Much worse, it’s un-American.

50 MTP – Trump is Toast – Jul 12 2023
Presidential political polls showing Trump with a big lead for the Republican Party nomination may be accurate, but they’re meaningless and misleading.

49 MTP – The Arrogant Nonsense of the Supreme Court – Jul 5 2023
What’s striking about recent Supreme Court rulings is that they were made by Justices appointed to accomplish very specific political objectives.

48 MTP – Elementary School FIeld Trips to Topgolf – Jun 28, 2023
Field trips to Topgolf don’t make any sense given the lack of quality public school education in the city and the desperate urgency of doing something about it.

47 MTP – Affirmative Action – Jun 21 2023
When it comes to education, “affirmative action” continues to waste the potential of segments of our greater society that have already suffered than enough.

46 MTP – Sensory Overload – Jun 14 2023
Unfortunately, our lives are becoming increasingly information and stimulation intensive at a pace that far exceeds the ability of our brains to adapt.

45 MTP – The Last Laugh Hypothesis – Jun 7 2023
Our perspective shouldn’t be to punish our international, authoritarian opponents, but to infect their countries with American/Western democratic capitalism.

44 MTP – Privatizing the Post Office, Part 2 – May 31 2023
The problem is with USPS management and the lack of government supervision of an independent agency that is gaming a dysfunctional Congress at our expense.

43 MTP – Yikes! – May 22 2023
Let Trump and DeSantis split the groupie vote and hope that a more reasonable Republican wins the nomination with the support of traditional Republican voters.

42 MTP – No Way! – May 17, 2023
According to the Supreme Court, while the Second Amendment guarantees people their right to own a gun, it does not permit people to own whatever gun they want.

41 MTP – It’s all the shootings, stupid – May 10 2023
A frightened electorate will replace the incumbent whether or not whatever is frightening them was the incumbent’s fault.

40 MTP – Flaw in the System – May 3 2023
Lately, it seems that our national and local governments are not as representative as they were intended to be. And that the majority no longer rules.

39 MTP – A Government Addicted to Debt – Apr 26 2023
Our national debt and the interest we pay on it are huge and out of control.  Nobody likes paying more taxes, but it’s the right and the smart thing to do.

38 MTP – Now I am become Death – Apr 19 2023
Notwithstanding the calm, studied tone of the Google executives, breakthrough development of artificial intelligence at this level is NOT an academic exercise.

37 MTP – Property Taxes – Apr 12 2023
People aren’t leaving the city the save money on the cost of housing. They’re leaving for the advantages of living in the suburbs, including better schools and safer neighborhoods.

36 MTP – Social Media – April 5 2023
Sharing can be a good thing.  But social media is generally only one-sided, only the pretense of interaction.  It’s exposure without communication.

35 MTP – Strict Constructionists – Mar 29 2023
Are strict constructionists missing the point?  The question is, “Do we have the Constitutional right to restrict the sale of assault weapons for personal use?

34 MTP – More Questions About Brandon Scott Campaign Contributions – Mar 22 2023
Mayor Scott’s campaign committee may have facilitated the legal laundering of contributions that otherwise would have exceed the statutory $6000 limit.

33 MTP – An Op:Ed Mini for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell – Mar 15 2023
ATTN: Fed Chairman Powell…  It’s better to struggle to afford some things because they’re too pricy than to be unemployed and unable to afford anything!

32 MTP – Campaign Contributions to the Brandon Scott Committee – Mar 15 2023
Are contributions nothing more than people and companies supporting good government or are they payments by special interests in return for favorable treatment?

31 MTP – Engaging the FCC – Mar 8 2023
All we’re talking about is expanding the scope of what the FCC already does, with Congressional approval, to cover new media from which people get their news.

30 MTP – Breaking Up the Base of the Republican Party – Mar 1 2023
No less a propagandist than Murdoch and his leading on-air personalities have gone on record as lying for money, as playing their audiences for fools.

29 MTP – The Problem With the BUILD Vacant Housing Solution – Feb 22 2023
The trick to saving Baltimore is getting the state involved to design and manage a comprehensive plan that leverages the heck out of the private sector. 

28 MTP – Taking Over Baltimore – Feb 15 2023
Just think of the additional state revenues and the direct and indirect economic benefits we would enjoy were Baltimore City able to realize its full potential.

27 MTP – Liar Liar – Feb 8 2023
We do not want and we cannot survive in a world without out being able to depend upon the honesty, the integrity of people who lead and represent us.

26 MTP – The 4-Day Workweek – Feb 1 2023
Moving the economy to a four-day workweek is an extremely complicated process that’s best left up to a free-market economy to work out for itself.

25 MTP – National Case of the Yips – Jan 25 2023′
Technically, I may have fully recovered from the COVID I contracted, but I’m not 100% yet. I’m somehow “off” with what may be a lingering case of the “yips.”

24 MTP – The Mayors Anti-Crime Program – Jan 18 2023
The “Baltimore City Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan,” reads like a campaign position-paper – short on facts, oblivious to the reality of the situation.

23 MTP – The Perfect Storm for a Recession – Jan 11 2023
The Fed is raising rates. The Republicans are cutting federal expenditures. Add a major international or domestic crisis. It’s the perfect recipe for recession.

22 MTP – THe Problem With Major Party Caucuses – Jan 4 2023
Major party caucuses are an integral, even essential part of our legislative process and democracy.  The problem is there’s very little democratic about them.

21 MTP – The Conceit of the Elder Joe Biden – Dec 21 2022
Time now for Joe Biden to get over himself, get out the way and help the next great hope of the Democratic Party win her or his first term in the White House.

20 MTP – The FED Committee We Need To Do Something About – Dec 14 2022
Economic policy is too important be made by an unelected society operating in secrecy, answering to no one for the consequences of their actions.

19 MTP – It’s time to privatize the mail – Nov 30 2022
A private sector system for delivering the mail will be much more efficient and less expensive for the postal services our country’s people and companies need.

18 MTP – The City Government That Isnt – Nov 23 2022
The Baltimore City Council has just approved a bill making the Council and other elected officials eligible for their pensions after only eight years in office.

17 MTP – Baltimore Mayor Brandon Squeegee Scott – Nov 16 2022
Mayor Scott has created the “Baltimore Squeegee Collaborative Working Action Plan.”  There’s no question about it, it rewards criminal behavior.

16 MTP – Craving Attention – Nov 3 2022
The more attention they need, the more radical, the more outrageous the rhetoric and behavior to get and keep their attention of their following.

15 MTP – I have Party Dissaciative Disorder – Oct 26 2022
Vote for whoever you think is the best candidate, regardless of his or her party affiliation.  It’s bad enough out there without you making it worse.

14 MTP – The Integrity of a Major Campaign Theme – Oct 18 2022
If gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore was serious helping the people of Baltimore, he could run for Mayor and probably win in 2024, just two years from now.

13 MTP – The Truth About Campaign Contributions – Oct 8 2022
If you think all this campaign fundraising is about love of candidate, you’re missing the point.  There’s some of that, of course, but a great deal of campaign funding is about access.  About influencing our elected officials in ways that can be counter to the public interest – and certainly has nothing to do with majority rule.

12 MTP – Challenging Our Core Assumptions – Oct 2 2022
Recent events in our national politics and rhetoric coming from Russia are challenging our most fundamental assumptions about our country and futures.

11 MTP – Still Missing the Point the Fed Fights Inflation – Sep 24 2022
Aggressively raising the federal funds rates – particularly doing it ahead of waiting to learn the impact of the previous increase on the economy – invariably hurts middle class and lower income families even harder.  It’s risky and reckless business that needs to stop. 

10 MTP – To Zoom or Do It in Person – Sep 17 2022
At best, I’m guessing that we’re missing the point.  That the problems that make working at home so attractive to so many are best solved by envisioning and implementing other long overdue changes to how we work.

09 MTP – Crime City USA – Sep 10 2022
The solution to crime involves long-term, very substantial improvements to public education – relative to which Baltimore City is ranked at the bottom of the state’s counties – and citywide economic recovery, a/k/a “jobs.” 

08 MTP – Baltimore Sings the Vacant City Blues – Sep 4 2022
And if the city government still doesn’t get it?  Well, people of Baltimore, you have the power to fire them, to replace them with better qualified, more creative, more motivated elected officials who have the management skills to make it happen.

07 MTP – Using Tax Credits to Encourage the Purchase of Electric Cars – Aug 22 2022
The way it works now, tax credit incentives actually discourage the purchase of less expensive electric cars which misses the point of the entire program. Assuming the climate crisis is as serious as scientists say it is, this is no time to be nickel and diming the solution.

06 MTP – Window of Opportunity – Aug 16 2022
Compare the benefits of helping people obtain work-friendly personal transportation to the total societal costs of dealing with ongoing, systemic un- and under-employment.  This should be a no-brainer for a city government paying attention.

05 MTP – Careful What You Wish For – Jul 30 2022
Hello, Democratic Governors Association.  You wanted Republican Dan Cox to run against Democrat Wes Moore and now you’ve got him.  Be careful what you wish for.

04 MTP – Being a Squeegee Worker as a Career Choice – Jul 19 2022
The problem, Mayor Scott, isn’t constitutionality.  The problem is that the City of Baltimore doesn’t offer its residents the education and training and legitimate job opportunities they deserve and so desperately need to maximize and realize their potential.

03 MTP – The Problem is Minority Rule – Jun 30 2022
Until we fix gerrymandering, increase voter turnout and change the rules of our elections so that winners have majority support – and get big money out of politics – small, well-funded minorities will have greatly disproportionate influence on our government and the lives of our people.

02 MTP – Time to Repurpose Baltimore Citys Greatest Assets – May 16 2022
Bring the jobs people need to where those people live and the other problems city government is forever chasing will take care of themselves.

01 MTP – Using Monetary Policy to Fight Inflation – May 4 2022
Now, just between us chickens, does anybody really think that the Fed’s raising interest rates is the way to get inflation in the price of eggs under control?

Just a list… Is the BDC incompetent or is it something else?

Sunday, August 8, 2021

For some time now, I’ve been arguing that city government urgently needs to encourage significant investments in all-inclusive neighborhood economic development. As part of that effort, I’ve been wondering if the city has, for decades, squandered huge amounts of financial and political capital on downtown projects – precious resources that should have been spent in other ways in parts of the city where families are struggling to get by.

Continue reading

The Nearsightedness of Baltimore City Government

Thick Eyeglasses

Highly recommended for Baltimore’s Mayor and City Council

Thursday, July 1, 2021

If you’re like me, you watch one of the local Baltimore news stations when you’re putting on your jammies at the end a long day. With luck and cool sheets, you’ll be asleep before you hear the lead stories about murder and mayhem in the big city. Forget about all the wonderful and impressive things the people of Baltimore do every day. Crime is the lead story. No matter where you live in Maryland, if you watch the evening news on one of these stations, crime is last thing you hear about the state’s greatest city. Likewise, first thing in the morning if you get up watching local news. And it’s been this way, not just recently, but for decades.

Continue reading

President Superfluous

Don’t you think that we have enough anxiety in our lives already? I do. And so, to improve the quality of my life I’ve decided to cut back on something that I’m certain isn’t good for me. “Fewer Oreos?” Don’t be ridiculous. No. I’ve decided to stop paying any attention to President Trump. And I will not be any worse off for doing so. Not in the least.

Yes, I watch entirely too much CNN and other news. I like to stay well-informed, but Donald is everywhere, so I’m going to work and do other stuff more and watch President Trump less.

Continue reading

Brandon Scott – Laundering Campaign Contributions

 

Brandon Scott
Councilman for District 2, Now President of the City Council
Candidate for Mayor of Baltimore
Launderer of Contributions to Circumvent
Campaign Financing Law

We all have an interest in improving election law to reduce the influence of money on primary and general elections.

In the course of figuring out what changes to advocate for campaign financing law, we’ve been looking at contributions received by the five leading candidates for Mayor of Baltimore. In
alphabetical order, they are Sheila Dixon, Mary Miller, Brandon Scott, Thiru Vignarajah and Jack Young. Contributions data are readily available at the Maryland Board of Elections website.

Continue reading

Phylicia Porter – Problematic Campaign Financing

Phylicia Porter
District 10 Democrat candidate for Baltimore City Council.
Problematic campaign financing.

Phylicia Porter

District 10 Candidate Phylicia Porter

Maryland-based Local Initiatives is committed to encouraging campaign finance reform in order to reduce the influence of money on the outcome of primary and general elections. In pursuit of this objective, we have been studying the campaign contributions made to candidates in selected races, most recently, for the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Continue reading

“Testing. 1, 2, 3. Testing.”

If only it were that easy. Throw a switch in the control room and the economy is back on.

There’s an ongoing debate about how we can relax restrictions protecting public health to restart our economy. It’s a disagreement between doctors and scientists on one hand and the President and other Trumpy-Republicans on the other.

Continue reading

Breaking News: Does nothing good ever happen in Baltimore?

First of all, a confession. I live in Howard County. Full employment. High income. My wife and I have given up long ago trying to find a neighborhood kid to do yard work. My guess is they’re too busy washing the hand-me-down BMWs and Subarus their parents give them. When I grew up, I saved my lawn mowing and snow shoveling money to buy an old two-door Ford Falcon with three gears on the column and a bench seat. Girls you were dating would sit next to you back in those days.

Continue reading

Sign of the Times

The screenshot on the left is from an article in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun about the billboard in the picture. Whether or not it is related to Mayor Pugh’s scandalous behavior and the FBI’s investigation, it marks an extraordinary moment in the continuing downward spiral of Baltimore’s public image.

Continue reading