Sweat the Small Stuff

This summer, I had the privilege of working at the White House National Economic Council. It was, day after day, awe-inspiring: seeing the President board Marine One, gawking at the Oval Office, running into the Director of National Intelligence in the hallway, and, the honor of a lifetime, serving cheeseburgers on the South Lawn of the White House.
But for all the pomp and circumstance, what truly amazed was the policy. Even in my relatively small office, the breadth and depth of policy-making was breathtaking. The issues that passed through were varied, meticulous, and eye-opening. The far-reaching policies get the front page of the New York Times, whether healthcare reform or Dodd-Frank, but what often goes unmentioned or under-examined is just as important, if not more.
From electric infrastructure grants to rules on federal loans for for-profit universities, these policies rarely rile up activists, or, for that matter, anyone really. But these are the countless policies that cross the desks of policy-makers at every level of government every day—and shape our daily lives.
Few know or care about the Department of Labor’s new rulemaking on whether retiree investment advisors should be held to higher “fiduciary” standards. But for our parents and grandparents, this rule could be worth thousands of dollars. Has your bank started charging you for debit card use? You can thank the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act and new rules from the Federal Reserve. Perhaps your doctor is keeping electronic health records or even using an iPad. That is the Department of Health and Human Services and their new incentives for using IT in healthcare.
By DC standards, these are, in fact, wide-ranging and weighty rules. Far from minutia, they are worthy of hearing upon hearing and heavy lobbying from interest groups. Outside that realm, however, most of us would rather bury our heads in a problem set than learn more about the Appalachian Regional Development Initiative. Yet this “small stuff” is the stuff of everyday governance; it affects our lives in tangible and meaningful ways.
There is a propensity for all of us who fashion ourselves policy-minded or political to emphasize the big picture. Where has Obama left liberalism? How does the Paul Ryan budget refashion the American social contract? What does Occupy Wall Street say about Rawlsian fairness? Is American drone policy constitutional?
These are important questions of equality, history, and justice. But, we should not lose sight of what government actually does each and every day. Government is neither a theory nor an ideology. It exists to improve citizens’ lives, and much of that mission occurs in the details and the small bore. It is not particularly glamorous or exciting, but it is fundamental.
This focus on the particulars is sometimes mistaken for an argument of pragmatism over principle. President Clinton’s second term “triangulation” may have been the epitome of political pragmatism in its small uncontroversial initiatives, child gun trigger locks and school uniforms. But, if anything, the everyday consequences of policy minutia demand nothing less than principled debate. Indeed, we should encourage and expect ferocious wrangling over the details of government.
The fight to cap debit card fees charged to merchants, the Durbin Amendment, had been raging for almost a year, and finalized after a storm of comment and lobbying from Wall Street, credit unions, and retailers—the National Grocers Association included—over every last cent banks could charge per swipe. Though on a significantly smaller scale, these battles are waged month after month across the policy map. Added together, these increments change things.
These are the trenches where government—and ideology—matter and affect our daily lives. It is in the post-legislation regulation and the seemingly minor announcements where policy shines and governing is done. It is not grand strategy, and it will not change the world, but it is the foundational work of government. And it affects citizens’ lives. So while we strive to tackle the big issues and big questions, as we well should, let us not forget the small ones percolating in government offices that push policy forward every day.
Jonathan Yip ‘13 is the World Editor Emeritus.