Sunday Pearlstein: Starve the beast. End the stalemate.
"In game theory, a Nash equilibrium is that point where no player has anything to gain by unilaterally making a change in his own strategy. The game, in effect, has been played out to a draw.
These days, Washington is stuck in a nasty Nash equilibrium. The two dominant parties -- the anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-government wing of the Republican Party, and the raise-taxes-on-the-rich-but-don’t-touch-my-entitlement wing of the Democratic Party -- have fought each other to stalemate.
At this point, it’s almost impossible to change this game through the electoral process -- all the candidates are products of the same system. Come November, your choice is between a Republican who won’t compromise or a Democrat who won’t compromise, with both beholden to special interests and party leaders for the money necessary to win reelection. Any vote winds up being a vote for continued stalemate. Nash equilibrium.
The only way to change their behavior is to stop the flow of political cash to both parties. It’s the only currency that seems to matter to these guys, the only thing that will get their attention, the only message they are likely to understand. No Grand Bargain = No Political Money."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/sunday-pearlstein-starve-the-beast-end-the-stalemate/2011/12/18/gIQAMTVV2O_blog.html?wprss=ezra-klein
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