7 - Love, sports & politics

Variable Flow Comes Limping After 💻

Sometimes there’s a little to say about a lot of things. Welcome back to Variable Flow. Don't Blame the Victim wazn't me Congress is considering PFAS liability exemptions for water and sewer systems under

2024 La Follette School Commencement Address 💻

On May 12, at the invitation of the graduating MPA/MIPA candidates, I shared remarks at the 2024 graduation ceremony in the Wisconsin State Assembly chambers. Here’s what I had to say - or you

Batting .400 💻

On the limits of means-tested assistance programs for water & sewer Red Sox legend Ted Williams was the last player to bat over .400... in 1941 **Warning: sports metaphor ahead** Like hitting a baseball,

Shallow State 💻

Inefficient, inequitable, and maddeningly slow, America’s fragmented administrative institutions are saving the Republic before our eyes. American elections are run by a jumble of local, state, and federal agencies. That’s a feature, not a

Confluence 💻

Confluence. [kän-flü-ən(t)s]. n. A coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point. Water is a big deal in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania is a swing state. Am I being too subtle? More evidence that,

Art of the Possible 💻

Why water should be the Biden Administration’s top environmental priority Manny's electoral map The Biden administration’s environmental policy priorities are likely to be quite different from the Trump administration’s, and the impending change at

Looking Back and Moving Forward 💻

Sometimes a move is about the pull, not the push Next month I’ll be leaving Texas A&M University and starting an appointment with the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of

Golden Opportunity 💻

What the Cuyahoga River Fire says about the past and maybe the future Fifty years ago this week the Cuyahoga River caught fire in downtown Cleveland. Observers of U.S. water policy and environmentalism

Notes on America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 💻

Some observations about the new law & what it tells us about the politics of water infrastructure in America Here's looking at you, America The Senate recently passed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA)

Answering the Bell 💻

Social science and defying the choice between clean and affordable water Warning: sports cliché coming. Boxing is more popular as a literary metaphor than as a spectator sport these days. Still, I’m a

Water on the infrastructure menu 💻

This is the third in my series of posts on the recently released White House infrastructure plan. One of the most remarkable things about the White House plan is that water is a big

Infrastructure & the Art of the Possible 💻

The growing national attention to public infrastructure in the United States has been gratifying to those of us who have been working on the issue for a long time. Infrastructure has been a simmering

Presidents, Baseball, and Wins above Expectations 🎓

What Can Sabermetrics Tell Us about Presidential Success? PS: Political Science & Politics Manuel P. Teodoro & Jon R. Bond Why Ronald Reagan is like Bobby Cox and Lyndon Johnson is like Joe Torre Presidential