Word: wonking
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...that. That's not a problem. That's a Washington policy wonk deal...
...self-proclaimed "policy wonk" like Clinton, a man who enjoys nothing better than noodling the ramifications of governmental remedies, so charmed by the kind of kindergarten criminology some of the current "three strikes" proposals represent? Part of the reason is that little serious thinking took place. "The President was moved by the Polly Klaas case," says White House domestic-policy assistant Bruce Reed. "He'd dealt with crime at the grass roots in Arkansas, but after meeting with the murdered girl's father in December he realized again that we have to do more to keep people like that...
...President's call for an independent Whitewater investigation temporarily quells the political outrage, but many people still think Clinton must be guilty of something because they know he isn't stupid. Here's a policy wonk well versed in every domestic issue that ever made a Sunday-morning talk show, a politician with near total recall of conversations and events from long ago, a meticulous record keeper capable of itemizing underwear donations to charity. Why, then, are so many vital Whitewater records missing? How is it possible that two respected lawyers like Bill and Hillary Clinton don't possess...
Ever since it was first outlined, President Clinton's health plan has been wonk heaven: a field day for number crunchers, policy analysts and all the sobersided types who use hand-held computers even though they know the figures anyway. Matthew Arnold wrote of ignorant armies clashing by night; the health- care discussion has been conducted by highly knowledgeable armies clashing on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour...
...that do not involve deciding that someone may die sooner than if the treatment had been given. To accept the need for rationing involves a certain pessimism -- the embracing of a zero-sum system where the only way to pay for one thing is to drop another. The pragmatic wonk in Clinton might want to wrestle with it; but the optimist in him, and his political instincts, will ensure that he will try to to keep it from becoming a focus of debate. He will probably succeed in this, since his plan is designed in such a way that...