Back in early December, 2014, I posted an article about how Washington, DC has lost significance and clout. See: How Washington Made Itself Irrelevant.
Now I see this article in the NYTimes titled Don’t Look to States for New Ideas.
So, do not look to the feds for innovation and/or funding and do not look to state government either. Then where will the new ideas, programs, and initiatives come from? And who is going to fund new things in 2015 and beyond?
Recovery Diva 
Claire:
Thanks for posting this excellent article.
I believe that the answer to your question about from where the ideas & solutions will come, if not from feds or states is: a) local government, especially local governments sharing ideas on a peer-to-peer basis; b) non-government organizations like the Kresge & Rockefeller Foundations+ Non-Profits such as NHMA, ASFPM, ASAP; c) as well as grass roots activists of the sort who worked so effectively in Tulsa to help that community deal with its flood issues.
We are seeing such local Resilience and Climate Adaptation efforts already taking place in the Cities of Baltimore & Salt Lake, and other areas including statewide efforts in Vermont.
NHMA has prepared a Draft report on how efforts in Oklahoma involving the “Whole Community” are working quite successfully to create programs designed to reduce the loss of life from tornadoes, including publicly and privately funded safe rooms. That Draft Report will be up on the NHMA website soon, and should help spark discussions about how society can use the Oklahoma approach broadly to help promote better and safer future with respect to not just tornado life safety, but to promote a more safe and resilient future with respect to other Natural Hazards too.
Claire-Thanks so much for your Blog; it is an invaluable resource. You are indeed a “National Treasure”, as we at NHMA have declared in your Award last year.
Cheers to all.
Claire:-
Thanks for pointing to a very thought-provoking article. I think it’s also important to point to one other factor – complexity. Most of the important problems Congress might address – like health care (as opposed to health care financing) – are “wicked problems” primarily because of the rat’s nest of other laws, regulations, and legal interpretations that entangle almost any proposed legislation. There can be local solutions to these problems, but often a national solution is so riddled with unintended consequences that it becomes part of several other problems (see Obamacare vs Romneycare).