The article entitled Trade-Offs in the Stimulus Package was written by CQ guest columnist, Madison Powers. And, the article first appeared on the gqpolitics.com website (in the CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS section), on Febuary 4TH, 2009. The aim of the article is to discuss the various trade-offs involved in legeslative decisions, particularly regarding economics. This article, as-well as all other articles published by CQ, is directed towards a politicaly-minded audiance, including those actually in political fields (i.e. members of Congress, etc.). Political scholars and teachers also constitute the typical audiance-members for whom this article is directed torwards.
Throughout the article, Powers tries to make a point of how the patterns to create change may actually be changing (or need to be). Hence, the basic argument Powers wants to make is that whereas in the past, political leaders had ascribed to the idea that change happens in a big way, in big doses, maybe now the opposite is true. For example, at one point in the article, Powers states, "Oddly enough, the multiple dimensions of the problems we face may require us to think small and act in hundreds or even thousands of undramatic ways." In other words, the author is urging the readers to be more detail-oriented and conscientious, when figuring solutions. At another point in the article, the author states, "Thinking small is a hard sell, especially after we were exhorted to dream of big things of lasting significance. But a diffuse approach to patching up many smaller leaks, unsexy and uninspiring as it is, is precisely what some economists think of as a new paradigm for spurring growth in developing nations." Therefore, it is clear from this article that even change, in essence, is not free from flaw. Thus, the methods to create change are in need of changing. And, that is the entire point.
