A half-hour won't change a thing By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle When I caught up to Rep. Mark Green after Tuesday's visit by three Cabinet secretaries to Conger Industries and asked him how it went, he started with "well, you always want more time." That's understandable. A half-hour on the economy is like trying to explain Einstein's theory during a sound bite. It just won't work. Let's be honest - it was more a PR move in the classic mold of the elder Bush saying "message - I care." The secretaries come in, shake some hands, seem to listen and then move along to the next stop. Follow that up on Wednesday, and President Bush doing something he's done less of than invade countries in the past two years - holding a news conference. Why, the administration is reaching out! It's answering The Big Questions and listening to the Average American! Hogwash. Tuesday's show was structured as tightly as any stage production, right down to the setting (Midwest Industrial) and timing (one half-hour, nobody who can ask any embarrassing questions). The press? We had to hustle past security to get all of two questions to the secretary of commerce, who doesn't exactly draw rock-star-size crowds. We in the media peanut gallery joked about what would happen if an employee came in with a question about individual taxes, or maybe the USA PATRIOT act. We could just see the boss saying "you know those new jobs that they say are opening up? Yours just joined them." Let's be honest; this has nothing to do with forming policy. To do that, it would take a Cabinet member actually living in Wisconsin, being in contact with real fork-lift mechanics and Harley workers, and understanding what average people go through. And we'll see that about the same time we see Bill Clinton get an award for chastity. I'm not blasting the current administration; Democratic presidents are just as guilty. Granted, everybody wants the time of a big shot. But when the attempt is made to give everybody a little bit of time, nothing's going to get said. I'd like to see the secretary of labor actually spend a week on the line ... the secretary of commerce deal with business problems ... the secretary of housing try to pay rents ... Tommy Thompson deal with a cheapskate insurance company and a mounting hospital bill ... the secretary of transportation ride the bus or commute to work every day instead of ridding in a limousine. (Maybe the transportation secretary doesn't ride in a limo to work. If that's the case, though, they've got some serious image work to do.) Look, everybody knows the economy went south for two reasons: the dot-com boom faded and 9-11. And we're trying to build back. But elephant-and-pony shows like this week's two-state bus tour aren't going to do any good. And it also doesn't help when they're hearing from the already-converted. I would have given - well, a cheesehead - to any of the three secretaries who said to his/her cohorts, "you go up ahead, I'm gonna stay and talk to these angry people outside for an hour or so." That's another thing you'll never see. But if you're going to represent all the people, and make decisions for all the people, you damn well better be talking to all the people, or a good cross-section. That's possible, and it can be done. And should be, if things are going to get any better. In short, it's time for the government to siddown, shut up and listen. Barrington is a reporter for The News-Chronicle. His column appears here Fridays. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected] or call 432-2941.