Dec 19, 2012
We talked a little Fiscal Thingy, and we talked a little Eleven Dimensional Chess. We're still a long way from a deal, but some of the elements are beginning to come into focus, and not everybody is all that happy with the picture. Greg Dworkin joined us to discuss the dealmaking and the meta-issues around it. Do Dems cede ground too easily? Do Republicans hold hostages longer knowing this? Is a pattern emerging? Afterwards, we were joined by Evan Macbeth, aka Paradox13, to discuss his experience as a presidential elector in Virginia's Electoral College. We get way down in the weeds of it, from how people get selected for candidacy to the Electoral College in the first place, to just how they do what they do once elected, to who pays for it all to get done. Finally, still more reflection on Newtown, including a look back at the post-Aurora revelation that the NRA and its allies have actively lobbied against and blocked governement efforts to collect accurate data on gun injuries and fatalities, to deny the debate usable science on the issue. Thanks, anti-science! Policy making without basis in reality is working great!