Two guests tonight! I"m guessing that Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) will be on early, talking about... well, probably something that he voted withthe GOP on (although he does vote with the party roughly 80% of the time). Or Iraq. That's always a safe bet. Although it could be just about anything. According to Project Vote Smart's list of issue ratings, he's strongly supported the interests of (among others) the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, Associated General Contractors, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and the International Sleep Products Association. Because when they're doing night work on that overpass across the way...
Stephen's other guest, Richard Florida, is the author of all those books and articles about how supporting the 'creative class' is good for the economy -- and inhibiting it, via social intolerance and local, regional, or national policies that drive creative professionals to more congenial locations elsewhere, will be economically harmful. In unrelated news, Florida will be leaving his recent position in Washington for one at the University of Toronto.
Not that long ago, he and one of his think-tank colleagues released a study that I bet you read about -- in it, he established the "Bohemian-Gay Index." You can read the .pdf of the study online, or go with Raw Story's de-jargonified summary:
Richard Florida ... argued that the more "gay-friendly" a city is, the more economically prosperous it will be....
"Places that were open to gay and lesbian people were also the kind of places that could attract not only smart young people, but also Indian and Chinese immigrants who come here and start a lot of high tech companies," he said. "They were attracting people across the board, building up a talent base, and then innovating and starting these new enterprises."
Florida said he thinks it is the open mindedness of these cities that has allowed economically successful communities to emerge, rather than prior economic success attracting open minded people.
I'm guessing that we'll hear about this tonight, although there's several other topics that might come up. I found this stuff much more interesting than I thought I would, especially the blog entry in which describes how the Newark riots of his childhood sparked his interest in urban affairs. With any luck, he'll be good in front of the camera.
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