Schmoozing it up in the 413
One of the things that is weird about my Small Town is that we seem to be a sort of Jimmy Stewart version of America. History plays out across our canvas as if we're all living a Forest Gump life. Last night, for example, I met the current Nobel Peace Prize recipient, a famous singer, and my former congressman at an event. During the course of the party several people remarked on how weirdly activist our region is. Some combination of the Five Colleges and fertile soil, I guess.
The National Priorities Project has been one of my charities for a long time. It works to bring transparency to the national budget. It used to be more wonkishly fact-based, but has swung left over time mostly because staring at the data makes you lean left. Why build another nuclear submarine when the cost could provide health care for every child in the country? It's a conversation based on facts: here is what things cost. Is it the best bang for the buck? The answer wasn't supposed to be in the question, but it turns out to be quite a lot of the time.
The founder died a few years ago and it has swung strongly to the left since then, but they still manage to keep the numbers being numbers, i.e., simply facts. If you are into data this is the place to go. I swear, the left wasn't supposed to have a corner on facts, but, geez guys, Republicans just seem to have jumped the shark. I like the Cato Institute, too, but I really like the National Priorities Project.
I have various thoughts about them joining the Institute for Policies Studies, but generally I approve the fit. The D.C. group that came to the party last night are all very powerful and earnest. It's a nice bit of energy to inject into our area. We suffer from a very very small population so even if *everyone* were brilliant and energetic, we simply run out of manpower for fixing the world. So it's nice to have a major Washington think tank decide to join up. I guess.
But now I hang out with beltway lobbyists. Seriously, this is one weird small town.
The National Priorities Project has been one of my charities for a long time. It works to bring transparency to the national budget. It used to be more wonkishly fact-based, but has swung left over time mostly because staring at the data makes you lean left. Why build another nuclear submarine when the cost could provide health care for every child in the country? It's a conversation based on facts: here is what things cost. Is it the best bang for the buck? The answer wasn't supposed to be in the question, but it turns out to be quite a lot of the time.
The founder died a few years ago and it has swung strongly to the left since then, but they still manage to keep the numbers being numbers, i.e., simply facts. If you are into data this is the place to go. I swear, the left wasn't supposed to have a corner on facts, but, geez guys, Republicans just seem to have jumped the shark. I like the Cato Institute, too, but I really like the National Priorities Project.
I have various thoughts about them joining the Institute for Policies Studies, but generally I approve the fit. The D.C. group that came to the party last night are all very powerful and earnest. It's a nice bit of energy to inject into our area. We suffer from a very very small population so even if *everyone* were brilliant and energetic, we simply run out of manpower for fixing the world. So it's nice to have a major Washington think tank decide to join up. I guess.
But now I hang out with beltway lobbyists. Seriously, this is one weird small town.