Edward Tufte Appointed To Help Track and Explain Stimulus Funds

President Obama recently announced several appointments to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, including data visualization expert Edward Tufte, author of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. The purpose of the panel is to advise the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, whose aim is "To promote accountability by coordinating and conducting oversight of Recovery funds to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse and to foster transparency on Recovery spending by providing the public with accurate, user-friendly information." Tufte said on his website, "I'm doing this because I like accountability and transparency, and I believe in public service. And it is the complete opposite of everything else I do. Maybe I'll learn something. The practical consequence is that I will probably go to Washington several days each month, in addition to whatever homework and phone meetings are necessary."

Comments

Blech.

[Pojut]

"I'll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here. 'I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.' 'I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.' 'Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding out both puppets!'" -Bill Hicks

Re:Blech.

[anaesthetica]

"Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality.

"They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens.

"This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out.

"If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. Fuck Hope.'" —George Carlin

link

Academics

[Hatta]

Just another feel good appointment of an academic to a position where they can't really do anything. Meanwhile Obama staffs his cabinet with wall street insiders. If Obama really wants transparency and accountability, he should fire Geithner and replace him with Elizabeth Warren. But no, he won't do that.

Re:Academics

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also inexcusable that billions upon billions of dollars were given out without anything in place to track where that money was ending up. It's only after the fact that they consider such accounting?

A mere $10,000 student loan has greater financial controls in place than the stimulus funding.

Re:Academics

[ottothecow]

Right, because the best choice would be someone who seriously believes that replacing our arbitrarily valued currency with vaults full of arbitrarily valued metal will fix everything wrong with our economy.

Re:Academics

[ArsonSmith]

I don't think he ever once said it would fix everything. It would seriously help though to have it based on something that the supply isn't as easily gained as hitting a print button.

Re:Academics

[Anonymous Coward]

You're confusing TARP and the Stimulus.

Re:Academics

[Hatta]

I think someone in favor of more regulation and not less would be best for the job.

Re:Academics

[khallow]

You're confusing TARP and the Stimulus.

Maybe he's confusing them with Cash for Clunkers. I can't remember which program was the one without accountability. They all look so much alike in that regard.

Re:Academics

[Jeremy Erwin]

The intrinsic value of gold is inflated by the arbitrary value that goldbugs like to place on it.

Re:Academics

[raju1kabir]

Don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps this says more about how dimwitted you are than how clever he is.

If that were the case, wouldn't you expect that I would have the same reaction to large numbers of Yale professors and therefore not find my assessment of Tufte noteworthy enough to report? I suppose it's possible that I'm so dimwitted I didn't even make that connection.

The right guy for the wrong job?

[KnownIssues]

Seriously though, I'm an Edward Tufte fun myself, but his statement, "And it is the complete opposite of everything else I do," is kind of funny. I know he didn't mean it literally. "Yeah my car's not working, so I hired a painter to fix it."

Background anyone?

[2.7182]

I know about this guys books, but I fail to see why he is going to be helpful.

Re:Background anyone?

[Mab_Mass]

I know about this guys books, but I fail to see why he is going to be helpful.

Quite simply, he will be helpful because when he puts together a report, there will be one or two incredibly informative graphs that explain where the money went and how that money changed things.

By having this information in such a concise, digestible form, it will help bring transparency and accountability to the government.

One of the major issues we're having in the U.S. is that one side is saying one thing and claiming absolutely that they are right while the other side is making contradictory claims just a vocally. Getting some real, solid, hard numbers and easily understand representations of these numbers will make these kinds of useless back and forth arguments less possible.

At least that's the theory. We'll see if he can make any difference in practice.

Re:Background anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

He could create the most stunning and useful presentation of garbage possible and it would still be garbage. The problem does not lie in the visualization, it lies in the abysmal data quality. When people don't understand what they're reporting and when they can't even filter for non-existent congressional districts, no amount of visualization assistance is going to help.

Re:Background anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Your assuming they'll give him real data and not just the same bullshit they feed the US public?

Re:Background anyone?

[CodeBuster]

At least that's the theory. We'll see if he can make any difference in practice.

In practice, political operatives will maneuver behind the scenes to ensure that whatever information the commission receives is carefully selected, filtered and sanitized so that the "right" conclusions are reached. The stakes are so high in this case that it is incredibly naïve to think that there won't be skullduggery.

Re:Mercy me...

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I'm reminded of Feynman on the Columbia commission.

Always assume Isaac Newton-level political ability until proven otherwise.

The whole world loves us now!

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7396358/The-end-of-the-road-for-Barack-Obama.html

My favorite line from the article:

"Mr Obama benefited in his campaign from an idiotic level of idolatry, in which most of the media participated with an astonishing suspension of cynicism."

Sounds like what I was saying in early 2007, but no one wanted to listen. Now a foreign observer, much more impartial than our own media, is saying exactly the same thing. Gee, I thought Obama was going to usher in a new era of global peace and prosperity. What happened? I would venture to guess that it has something to do with the fact that he has never run even so much as a convenience store, and now his naivete and inexperience are catching up to his vacuous rhetoric.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Anonymous Coward]

All good points, which could be addressed if only the American media would return to their role of impartial observer and watchdog, and not suspend disbelief for candidates who they favor.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[DigiShaman]

Not surprised.

The Republican party lost it's spine a long time ago and have splintered into many factions. Effectively, the party was dead even before the 2000 elections and since then has been without leadership.

The Democratic party however, has been very unified but has been rotting from the core since the days of JFK. Now, it too is crumbling apart with rampant thuggery and corruption.

I think we all know how the November elections will turn out. However, there is no way in hell we can foresee who the next president will be. Our political system as we know it, is fucked. I reckon this is a good thing. Perhaps now we can get people more involved with how politics happen in DC and start voting based on someones voting record, and not based purely on party. At least, I hope so.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[operagost]

You have to be 35 to serve, so that leaves a rather narrow window.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Dishevel]

It's hard to be impartial with shivers running up your leg.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Quiet_Desperation]

Step one for the GOP is to toss out the evangelicals. Even Nixon warned about mixing politcis and religion. When freaking *Nixon* finds your plans lacking, you might want to run a reassessment. Most who have analyzed the situation feel they'd gain far more than they lost.

Our political system as we know it, is fucked.

It acts, in combination with the media, to filter out anyone but complete sociopaths. You have to be utterly without care about other people- what they think of you, how your decisions affect their daily lives, etc.- to run for office these days.

I reckon this is a good thing.

...whut?

Perhaps now we can get people more involved with how politics happen in DC and start voting based on someones voting record, and not based purely on party.

Bah ha ha! Yeah, good luck with that. Wasn't Obama supposed to be morning in America again? How's that working out?

At least, I hope so.

Hope is not a strategy.

Wait, got another pithy one: hope in one hand and crap in the other and see which hand fills up first.

OK, now you can admonish me about how my hateful cynicism will never solve anything and perhaps something vaguely erudite on self fulfilling prophecies.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Coryoth]

Unfortunately, the extremes of the parties are the ones in control...

Really? The last election was a close fought battle between Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich? I must have missed that .... Perhaps you should check out what the extremes of the parties actually are?

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Bassman59]

Step one for the GOP is to toss out the evangelicals. Even Nixon warned about mixing politcis and religion. When freaking *Nixon* finds your plans lacking, you might want to run a reassessment. Most who have analyzed the situation feel they'd gain far more than they lost.

Absolutely. If your belief in some mystical imaginary higher power is the most important thing in your life, you are unqualified for public office. Quite frankly, I'm amazed that evangelicals remember to breathe.

Re:The whole world loves us now!

[Anonymous Coward]

You say antiquated like it's a bad thing. Care to look around at the world, at youth violence, at divorce rates, at teen pregnancy rates, at high school drop out rates, at, well, just about everything having to do with family and growing up and tell me that old antiquated ideas are bad?

Re:Tufte scandal

[Abcd1234]

Err... so? He could be the biggest asshole in the world for all I care, so long as he does a good job and injects some accountability and transparency into the process.

Not for long!

[dazedNconfuzed]

Yes, I trust Tufte will do an admirable job of rendering such information clear and concise. The truth will be unassailable.

At which point the Obama will realize that the waste and futility of the "stimulus package[s]" will be crystal-clear to voters, the graphs & explanations will be suppressed, and Tufte quietly shown the door.

Wrong guy for the job. Tufte and Chicago-way politics is like oil and water.

Re:Dumb question

[Sockatume]

If only we could radio-label bailout cash. It would assist in tracking, and act as a self-interest disincentive for it to be stockpiled in executive bonuses.

Re:Tufte scandal

[SharpFang]

I'm betting him being a big asshole is essential to the success of the project. Because things he's going to reveal are not nice at all, and a nice guy might try to obscure, whitewash and soften them. Only a real asshole will show them in all drastic gory glory they deserve...

Re:Tufte scandal

[Quiet_Desperation]

An asshole also might try to cover things up. That's the problem with assholes... you just never know.

Re:Mercy on him.

[kenh]

What's the big stink about ACORN anyhow?

It's not the incompetent job they did registering voters,,, (Note, incompetent does not mean "criminal")
It's not the money laundering charges... (Although they probably had a legal obligation to report someone planning to commit a crime, BIANAL)

What it is, is their financial structure, they way the bring in money from the federal government to, say, help lower-income folks secure affordable housing, but the federal funds wind up disappearing into the corporate structure and funding other activities (AIG executive homes bus tours in CT, paying for campaign activities, etc.).

The kids dressed up as pimps and ho's were simply the final straw that put ACORN on the radar of the mainstream media...

You've got to be kidding me...

[sean.peters]

Unfortunately, the extremes of the parties are the ones in control...

Unless by "extremes of the parties" you mean the rightmost extremes of both parties, I think you've gone round the bend. If the extreme left wing of the Democrats had been in control, Dennis Kucinich would have been the nominee. That guy really is far to the left. Obama? There are few Democrats more centrist. Just a quick example: health care. The current plan in play in Congress is almost exactly the same as the one Mitt freakin' Romney signed into law when he was governor of Massachusetts. Until recently, this would have been a Republican health care plan - the mainstream opinion among Democrats is that single-payer is the way to go.

Regardless of your personal preferences on issues like health care, it's an absolute fact that the Democratic party is controlled by highly centrist types, and the Republican party is being run by, not to put too fine a point on it, whackjobs.

Re:Tufte scandal

[SharpFang]

Cover ugly things up and make everything seem fine and nice? Instead of flinging real dirt all around, given the opportunity?

Have to be able to make more buckets

[snowwrestler]

Dollars are just buckets for wealth. When people sell off stocks en masse, you need more buckets (dollars) to catch all the wealth they pump out of them.

Imagine if buckets were made of gold. They wouldn't be much help in a flood because people would hoard them instead of using them. When that happens to dollars it's called deflation and it has a nasty effect on an economy.

But anyway, I believe we were talking about Treasury Secretary not Fed chairman. Ron Paul as Sec. Treasury would probably have a different problem--closing down all the regulators to let the market "fix itself."