Politics

[howardtreesong]

A libertarian friend of mine suggested that the only way to prevent our current political situation from becoming materially worse is to impose term limits on Congress. I responded to the effect that you might as well light a match in the middle of a hurricane, and that the Singularity will be upon us before a relatively pedestrian fix like term

Comments

[anonymous]

what about fivethirtyeight.com?

[howardtreesong]

Yep, even that one. He's rather more careful and refined in his narratives, but they remain narratives.

[howardtreesong]

Firstly, we assign each poll a weighting based on that pollster's historical track record,

This is rather like saying "equities have returned 7% per year ever since 1930, so you can generally count on equities doing so in the future." Have you read Taleb?

[adb_foldem]

Term limits are a horrible idea, basically ensuring that the legislature will be dominated by special interest groups, since none of the legislators will develop any real expertise.

[howardtreesong]

I've never thought much about term limits; my neophyte's understanding of the counter to your position is that it prevents those special interest groups from really becoming entrenched through some number of very effective lawmakers, a la Ted Stevens. Without digging into it further, my inclination is slightly in favor of 'em, but I'd be interested in reading more on it. Linky?

[strategery]

http://itsnotabigtruck.com/

[pb9617]

My solution is simple. Each Rep and Sen's pay is that of the GDP/per capita of their district. Each Rep and Sen may only raise campaign funds equal to the GDP/per capita of their district.