Charles Krauthammer, part deux

Chip and I interviewed Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer for ChrossTalk today. It was the second time I have met with him while working at the American Action Network/Forum. We think (and hope) that this interview will be one of our big breaks -- someone who has instant name recognition and is at the forefront of US politics. I must admit I was concerned about Chip before the interview. Chip is an outspoken liberal, and Charles Krauthammer, let's just say, is not. But with confidence and respect, Chip asked Krauthammer tough liberal questions. I don't think Krauthammer dissuaded Chip of his convictions. For me, Krauthammer was preaching to the choir. I almost always agree with his columns. I sometimes wonder what if he had a one-on-one debate with President Obama: I just can't imagine how he would lose. Anyway, the interview went well, and he was gracious enough to answer all of our questions, which meant we were there for over an hour. In order to get some publicity, we asked a topical question about the debt ceiling, which we will release tomorrow. For me, this meeting was quintessentially what interning in DC has been about. Yes, I have been assigned some grunt work, and yes, I have retrieved my fair share of coffee, but only by being in DC was I able to meet with and schedule an interview with Charles Krauthammer. Those opportunities have been invaluable.

The Debt Ceiling

The office of Congressman Dan Benishek (R-MI)

The debt ceiling debate has become all consuming. Its effect, its seriousness, are tangible in Washington. In terms of policy, other matters suddenly seem less important. When Chip and I walked through Cannon House Office building yesterday, the usual energy was replaced with silence. Quite frankly, the joviality and amusing aggression that I have come to associate with DC has been replaced -- at least temporarily -- with a more somber and even exasperated mood as both August 2 and the Congressional vacation nears. Coincidentally, this mood is exhilarating. Never before have I felt so in the thick of things. After weeks of posturing and years of kicking the can really, really, really hard, Washington and government are finally moving, frantically. They've tried kicking the can again; it just won't go anywhere this time. Having originally supported default, I've come to support the Boehner plan for two reasons. First, it sets a standard -- the new norm for future increases will have to include spending cuts and NO added revenues. Second, it allows Republicans leverage, because they're demonstrating unity. August 2 is only a few days away: if the Boehner bill passes, the Republicans ought to dare the Democrats to not accept their solution. Thus tonight has been the most intense night of all. The leadership won't call the bill until they have the votes. Earlier tonight, they called a recess. Draw your own conclusions. I sure hope Boehner will get the votes he needs. A true mandate would come in the form of the Senate and the White House in 2012.

Gather all Jews (discussed later in the post)

Standing ovation for Wasserman-Schultz

ChrossTalk has progressed swimmingly. Currently, we have about 70 subscribers. Chip and I would like to have 100 subscribers by August 2: while the United States descends into chaos, ChrossTalk shall flourish! As I am in charge of subscriptions, I implore you to please subscribe at www.chrosstalk.wordpress.com. Chip keenly realized that in order to boost our site traffic, we had to increase the content on our site. Thus we introduced a new segment, called "The Talk," where we debate issues in a manner similar to The Conversation in the NYT (http://chrosstalk.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/the-talk-the-cut-cap-and-balance-gang/). We are also working on an Amicus Brief section, where we invite policy experts to write brief analyses of an issue on which they have expertise. Today we received excellent news -- Charles Krauthammer confirmed an interview for Friday. And to add to the excellent news, Chip and I finally purchased a microphone to improve our sound quality.

ChrossTalk has surprisingly proven itself to be one of my most passionate (and increasingly time-consuming) activities. It's been an absolute pleasure working with Chip, though we often don't see eye-to-eye. You could say he and I get cross with each other, which in some way is the nature of our relationship (disclaimer ... I wouldn't have it any other way). If it weren't for the pages ad infinitum of transcript and vulgar language, I'd love to post our G-chat conversations.

Being back at the Network/Forum is awesome. It's great to see all of my friends -- better yet, mega uber conservative like-minded friends -- again. In addition to ChrossTalk, Pete is having me catalog and organize a list of Florida donors that the Forum will presumably hit up in the future. It will be very difficult to finish, because there are 7013 rows to sort through. At least Republicans are generous. Tonight, I attended, on behalf of the Network/Forum, the AIPAC Summer Seminar Series (http://www.clotureclub.com/2011/07/aipac-middle-east-event-w-rep-wasserman-schultz-rep-cantor/) to see House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Chair of the DNC Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) speak on strengthening US/Israeli relations. As with many events in Washington, the speeches were shallow and pre-packaged, but well worth the opportunity to see these Representatives in the flesh. Cantor, in particular, is a like a government idol of mine, because not only is he the Majority Leader of the House, he's also a Jew!

Back in DC

Well, I was on an Amtrak train for 10 hours today, so obviously not much happened. I'd say the most eventful moment of my day was discovering mold on the pizza I ordered for lunch. But, I'm back in DC for internship part 2 at the American Action Network/Forum. Having already met everyone in the office, I'm excited to forgo the awkward first week of establishing myself and get cracking. So far, I have scheduled a ChrossTalk interview with a Chief of Staff and will (with Jeremy) have a private tour of the Fed! Hopefully exciting stories and interesting photos to come. As I side note, my goal is to take extraordinary pictures of ordinary things, but more often than not, I either take ordinary pictures of extraordinary things or ordinary pictures of ordinary things. Ansel Adams started somewhere.

Driver's license

First, please look at past posts to see some of the pictures I took! Now, to the meat of this post. I'm 17 and an unlicensed driver. I have driven twice. Once, I drove Allie Hutler's car up and down my driveway. Two weeks ago, I drove John Webber's car from one parking lot to another one minute away. Both times I was terrible. I swear that I thought driving would be easy: apparently the car can even go forward without pressing on the gas pedal? Perhaps I'm being unreasonable, but I was frustrated when my parents expected that I be a good driver before I take my driving test. Let me paint the picture as I had imagined it. August 19th would come and I'd be 18. I'd wake up, have a coffee, preferably some encouraging music would play in the background as a friendly bird chirped on my window sill (actually, exactly as this video shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJoIaXZ0rw). Either my Mom or Dad would drive me to the DMV. I'd logic my way through the written portion, get behind the wheel, start, stop, turn, park, and woosh, I'd walk out of the DMV with a license ready to drive myself to the Five Guys by the Newport Bridge anytime I wanted. Now my parents are telling me I need lessons with an instructor -- first with an automatic and then behind a stick (because that's all we own). And for some reason, every time I drive, the car jerks forward and back: it's never a smooth ride. So what this long didactic schmaltz is getting at is that it will be awhile before I get my license, which is annoying. Maybe that common sense thing everyone talks about is important after all?

Harry Potter 7, Part 2

A nice little candid of Gabe

My favorite writer is Anthony Bourdain, in part because of his humor, in part because of his content, but beyond all else, his ability to curse, and do so effectively so as to heighten his prose. Now, as someone who aspires to serve in public office some day in the very distant future, it would be unwise to publicly write a curse word that so effectively describes what I feel, having just watched with my Costa Rican companions the final installment of the Harry Potter movie series. Excuse the french and the self-incrimination, but I am thoroughly mind-fu**ed (I've decided to compromise in the spirit of the Washington debt-ceiling talks). Appropriately humorous, ever dark, well scored, and faithful to the original text, Harry Potter gave me and my movie-mates goose bumps repeatedly during the film. I hate to sound like an HP dork -- which I am not -- but there are times when this muggle can't resist (excuse the stupid joke). The New York Times article I've attached below perfectly describes the emotions: we've grown up with these character, watched them mature -- intellectually, magically, sexually -- and the final movie proved a profoundly satisfying end. Harry's son and classmates waved off their parents as the audience saluted this decade long adventure goodbye. If I may add just one observation, which I believe has yet to be mentioned -- the entire film had a recurring motif of the Revolutionary War. As Harry became master of the Deathly Hallows and destroyed that power for the betterment of future generations, so too did the colonists (and especially Washington), armed with newly-won freedom, submit themselves to a constitution and a codified system of laws that protected liberty and limited power for generations to come. The film is a must see.

Please read: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/movies/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-review.html?ref=movies

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As this was our final full day in Costa Rica, I thought I'd very briefly mention two things that happened. First, Jimmy, Gabe, John, and I took a 2 hr hike to las antenas, which afforded us excellent views of San Jose at the cost of lactic acid, shortness of breath, and sunburn. The hike was steep but worth it. Second, today I met Luis Liberman, the Vice President of Costa Rica. He lives in Gabe's building, and we ran into him on the elevator this afternoon. He has a surprisingly soft handshake.

Back in San Jose

Enough already

Yesterday, we drove from Manuel Antonio back to San Jose. Unfortunately (though I'm looking forward to seeing my family), we have reached the final leg of our trip. In anticipation of our Tuesday night viewing of the new Harry Potter film, we picked up the HP 6 and HP 7 Part I to prepare for the epic final movie. In the afternoon, Gabe invited his friend Daniel to the house. Daniel has been in Israel for the past 5 months in a Kibbutz and returned to Costa Rica less than a week ago. He's absolutely hilarious. For dinner, we had lasagna, a welcome relief from excessive amounts of rice and beans.

This morning, we woke and traveled, with Daniel and company, to Poas, an active volcano in Costa Rica. Though we got there in the morning, the entire Poas crater was filled with clouds. We had to wait for about a half hour before the clouds temporarily cleared up and we snagged a view of the crater. We then hiked briefly to Lake Botos, an inactive crater that had filled with rain water and became a lagoon: as with everything in Costa Rica, it's was natural and beautiful. We took a quick ride to see a waterfall. Though we intended to hike down the rocks, a newly married couple was taking staged photos, and we voluntarily avoided the awkward situation. For lunch, SURPRISE, we had rice and beans ... Gabe's parents are consciously trying to expose us to the culture of Costa Rica, which I appreciate. But sensing all of our exhaustion with comido tipico, they have cooked international dishes for dinner, including a delicious steak au poivre tonight.

Manuel Antonio

Jimmy comes in for the crash landing.

Yesterday, John, Jimmy, Gabe, and I woke up early to do our final La Fortuna excursion of the trip -- zip lining over the rain forest. As someone not in love with heights (I have in the past assumed crash position during take-off and landing), the idea of jumping off a platform into open nothingness was unsettling. What´s more, after we took the tram to the top of the mountain, I realized that the intense fog and mist meant we had to jump into the clouds, blind, unsure of where the end of the line was. Second thoughts? too bad. I did the first canopy and realized, once in the clouds that there was me, suspended by a harness, 600 feet of open air, and rain forest. Let´s just say I ran through the cable snaps/harness breaks scenario more than once -- in mid-air for that matter.

That afternoon, we took a 5+ hour car ride to Manuel Antonio, a charming beach town. The ride was long: though we slept for most of it, we did banter ... if I may, I´d liken us to a prep-school version of The View. In a couple weeks, we´re kinda spreading across the country (i.e. Gabe and Jimmy are staying in the northeast; John is going to Los Angeles), so it´s nice to have some face time post-Choate, after which it will be harder -- but still possible -- to stay in touch.

Manuel Antonio is great. Our hotel is amazing: we´re staying in 3 bedroom apartment, outfitted with a kitchen, multiple bathrooms, dining room, and living room (I´m typing from a hotel computer, so I can´t upload pictures until tomorrow). This morning, we went to the national park, and took a 3 hour guided animal watching tour. In the afternoon, we hung by the beach, though we couldn´t go very deep into the water, because Costa Rica has severe riptides. Concluding thoughts -- if I ever have to see or eat rice-and-beans again,  I´m going to be sick. All the other food is great and authentic though.

La Fortuna

John's helmet can't be safe ...

Costa Rica is AMAZING. John, Jimmy, Gabe, and I are in country right in the middle of the rain forest. We took a 3.5 hour ride from San Jose to La Fortuna: we're staying at the Tabacon, a beautiful hotel at the base of the Arenal volcano. By day, we adventure in the rain forest; by night, we relax in the natural hot springs heated by the underground lava of the Arenal volcano.

Day 1: We arrived at the Tabacon, dropped off our bags, and got in the tourist bus to go repelling. It's rainy season in Costa Rica, so we had to wear bathing suits in anticipation of a torrential downpour, which happened. Rappelling/canyoning was amazing. We either went down 100+ foot rock faces or bounced in and out of waterfalls. The only hiccup per se was that on the second of five rappells, my tevas broke, and I was in the middle of expletive all nowhere in the rain forest with only one shoe. Luckily the tour guide lent me one of his shoes, so I was good on the rappels. I did however have to hike for 20 minutes out of the canyon shoeless.

Day 2: We went rafting on class 3 rapids. Though Gabe (who is with me here writing) would disagree, I'm convinced that as paddlers we're made to feel consequential, when in fact we're helplessly at the mercy of the rapids. Point in case, we hit a rock wall and almost flipped. As I'm a terrible rowing partner, I learned later that I used John to break my fall, but in doing so, inadvertently drowned him for a couple of seconds. Other than being one with nature, we got to do some cliff jumping.

I've had a couple of existential moments in Costa Rica: those one with the planet, awesomeness of nature and insignificance of man type things ... but then I got over myself.

During the afternoon, all four of us relax in the naturally heated hot springs, which are profoundly relaxing. Today, we almost got hit by lightning -- no big deal. As we're in a third world country, the safety standards are slightly lower. Though it was aggressively thundering and periodically lighting, all the guests stayed in the water. I think I'm stronger and wiser for it though. Pura vida!

Costa Rica

Today Jimmy, John, and I woke up bright and early and travelled to the Bush Houston International Airport. Never has traveling been so effortless and uneventful. Security was fast but respectful, and our gate was very close. John and I sat in row 31. Ironically, Jimmy's mom had changed his seat to row 11 and asked my mom to change my seat as well. Because my mom didn't have my passport number at the time, she couldn't. When I went online to confirm my flight, I noticed there was an empty seat next to me. John, who had been sitting by himself, impulsively booked the seat only to learn later that he had stolen Jimmy's -- poor communication on our parts. On the plane, John and I somehow had an empty seat between us, so we, nay I, was able to stretch my legs.

Costa Rica is a third world country and apparently I have broken many of the "don't do common sense" rules. I wore seersucker shorts with a palm tree print, a Williams Squash t-shirt, and screamed "what's up bro" to Gabe when I saw him: nothing bad has happened yet though. If anything, driving revealed that the country is super lush but has very poor infrastructure re: roads. At Gabe's house, we had arroz con pollos for lunch, and then went to the mall to pick up some last minute forgotten items. For dinner, we had delicious fish tacos. A book I read sophomore year describes my stomach's current state best: "I've had an elegant sufficiency; any more would be superfluity."

Gabe is the new addition to our group. John, Jimmy, and I have been getting along swimmingly, excluding minor tussles here and there. Then again, we are spending 15+ hours of face time with each other, so that's to be expected. We're all good enough friends though that we can fight for 2 minutes and make up right afterwards.

Schlitterbahn and Yankee Pot Roast

Yesterday, John, Jimmy, and I traveled to the beautiful and quaint seaside Texas resort town, Galveston,  made ever-charming by the landscape of industrial plants. Given that Houston had been boiling, we decided to go to Schlitterbahn, a water park. It was an eventful day to say the least. From the get go, Jimmy and I, to say it nicely and retain some masculinity, were apprehensive about the big slides that just free-fall you. The common refrain for the day was, "let's get up there, assess the situation, and make a decision at the top." I'm proud to report Jimmy and I did all the rides, though we only the did the biggest and scariest one once. Our plan was simple: John, a water park pro, would go first, leaving Jimmy and I at the top helpless, having to fend for ourselves. With just slightly more confidence than Jimmy, I would go second, forcing Jimmy, who was by himself up there, to take the fast way down so as to not be chided and scolded by us. As for interesting stories, we were in the lazy lagoon, when a young albino boy (Jacob, as we later learned) tapped me on the back, asking for help because he was blind without his goggles, which he had lost while flipping into the wave pool. Like idiots, John and I searched where he lost them to no avail, but Jimmy went 30 feet downstream and found them. As Jews say, we had done a mitzvah.

That night, John's Mom made her famous Yankee Pot Roast, a winter-dish so heavy but absolutely delicious. The fresh made biscuits used to sop up the gravy did me in. After dinner, we played spoons, which is a violent card game. Jimmy strangled me.

The prosperity doctrine

Two big events have happened while in Houston -- one was for Jimmy; the other for me. Last night, we went to an MLS game to see the Houston Dynamos play against Toronto FC. The game was net-net really fun, though I am not exceedingly interested in soccer. 10,000+ orange colored fans surrounded the team in the stadium, which was a site to behold.

This morning, we suited up early to head over to Lakewood Church, the largest church in America. Lakewood was quite a site: the whole thing is a well oiled machine that at times felt like a corporation. A Southern belle, John's Mom charmed our way to front row seats, where we were only 6 rows away from the man, the myth, the legend, Joel Osteen and his intense and somewhat scary wife Victoria. I have to say, my first experience with a United States mega-church in the south was quite overwhelming. The service was more like a denominational rock concert than that one other church service I went to years earlier. All around us people were pulsating, throwing both hands in the air, muttering, shaking, eyes closed, crying as Pastor Joel and Pastor Victoria delivered their prosperity doctrine. Mind you there were about 35,000 people in this converted professional basketball stadium. This church is a money-making machine. Followers blindly threw 20s into the donation buckets, and the visiting Pastor shamelessly advertised his own book, "for the low price of 10 dollars at the book store," during his sermon. As for firsts, I took communion, and the guy next to me was "saved." John agrees, this has been the highlight of the trip so far.

Lard in my Gap Yah

First, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU

In an uncharacteristic move, John, Jimmy, and I slept in until 12 pm and had fruit for breakfast. We did our morning rituals and then went to the River Oaks Country Club. We all went to the driving range; having not played at a club for a while, I failed to tuck in my shirt -- or wear a belt for that matter -- and was called out on it by the pro. We then went swimming at the pool and had lunch at the clubhouse.

Because it's 90-100 degrees in Houston, we have to avoid the sun for part of the day, lest we roast like Yankee Pot Roasts. We chose to see "Transformer 3," an action-packed, effects driven, sensory overload three hour experience. It was good.

For dinner, we went to El Patio (what a dumb name) to satisfy our Tex-Mex cravings. I'd like to talk about Felix's queso. Think cheese and melted lard in the bowl. In many ways Felix's queso is like a good red wine: the flavor develops with age. You begin with melted cheese and melted fat and you end with semi-soft melted cheese and floating balls of solidified lard. It was dirty, it was greasy, but boy was it delicious.

After dinner, imbued with grease and re-fried beans, we met up with Tiffany Yang and had a lovely dessert at the Empire Cafe. We retired to John's lair to watch "Borat" for the rest of the night.

Travel day

Jimmy and I woke up at 6am to a take a 7 am Amtrak to Newark. While Jimmy slept, I read. During the train ride, I reclined my seat ever so slightly, and the passenger behind me let out a loud wince in reaction, but said nothing to me, which I found very bizarre. When we got to Newark, I of course had thrown out my Amtrak ticket and got in a kurflufle with the tram guards. Having swayed the guards to let us on, Jimmy and I, by total potluck, ran into Addie Mitchell, who is on her way to China for six weeks -- slightly more exotic than Houston. The plane ride was wholly uneventful: t.v. costs $7.99 and watching is what I did.

John picked us up at the airport, and we went to Calliope's immediately from baggage claim. Calliope's appears to be a local hang-out with Cajun cuisine: it was the best Cajun but slightly bizarre. It has a lovely ambiance, heightened by the criminals buying bail bonds next door. Point in case, John had the red-beans-and-rice and Jimmy and I had "surf n' turf" Po'boy, with fried shrimp, roast beef, and gravy.

Being in Texas, I felt the spirit of the Lord, and we drove by Lakewood Church . . .  excitement mounts for our mega-church visit. To finish a lovely day, John's mom -- a southern belle -- made us a dinner of braised brisket, cheese grits, sweet corn, and green beans. We don't eat like that in the North. I'm not complaining, but I was told (by John, mind you), I would have Yankee Pot Roast: we made him lone-star chicken at my house.

- Ross and John (more to come from this duo)

The next adventure

I finally don't feel like crap anymore. My Mom/doctor is slowly weaning me off Advil, and I now have only mild chills. Feeling better, I decided to have breakfast with one of my -- nay, my only -- friend from middle school, with whom I cared to stay in touch: other than Newport, I didn't create profound and enduring friendships with my classmates at St. Mikes.

This afternoon, I took the Amtrak to New Haven, and met with Jimmy at 6. I'm sleeping over the night before he and I take a train to Newark and then fly to Houston.

The 4th and a virus

It has been great seeing my family and playing squash with Charis. In Newport, three college squash players -- Bowdoin, Cornell, UPenn -- are staying for various reasons, and consequently, I have been able to play really quality squash with them (or should I say get my ass kicked).

The man, the myth, the legend ... David Black (and my Dad)

For the 4th (which we did on the 3rd to avoid traffic), my family and I went to Stonington to celebrate, as we do annually, with my godfather, his wife, and their friends. I've thinking of a way to properly express the character that is David Black, and I thought of it recently. For his first marriage, David married a Cabot, a wealthy Boston family, whose best described by a poem: "And this is good old Boston, / The home of the bean and the cod, / Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots, / And the Cabots talk only to God." A Jew, David offer the following toast at his wedding reception: "And this is good old Boston, / The home of the bean and the cod, / Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots, / And the Cabots speak yiddish by God." I'm not sure how that was received by a generally waspy audience.

Chip and I have been plugging away on ChrossTalk and are proud to announce that we've booked interviews for all of July and much of August. We were also ecstatic to find out that we're officially googlable, and our website is the first hit to appear!

In other news, I have a virus and have been sick for the last three days. I'm hoping that I'll be better by Thursday, because I'm taking a plane to Houston to see John Webber.

Internship Part I ends

Pete ... my internship adviser

Today I got up at 4:00 to take the 5:25 Amtrak back to Kingston, RI. The first part of my internship has officialy ended. I should say that I only planned to spend 3 weeks in DC, but given how enjoyable and useful these past weeks have been, I decided to come back in late July-August and am jockeying for an internship in Leader Cantor's office this Winter. The last day at work was relatively uneventful. Chip came to the AAN, where we interviewed Peggy Ellis for ChrossTalk (in Pete's office). We've decided that we're going to make our first serious investment and purchase a microphone to improve the sound quality of our podcast. Doug let everyone out of the office at 2, so I decided to walk around DC. I went to the Capitol but was denied entrance because of the size of my squash bag. Then I went to the Library of Congress and went on tour, which included viewings of the Rotunda and the Waldseemüller map. I briefly stopped by the Folgers Shakespeare library, and then ...

Chris and I went to Ray's Hell Burger that night. Let me begin by saying Ray's deserves a paragraph of its own because it was indisputably the best burger I have ever had -- it's no wonder that Obama took Russian President Dmitry Medvedev there for lunch. For me, Ray's is unique and superior because of it's topping: the adventurous can opt for bone marrow or foie gras; I was tame and chose roasted garlic in addition to usual fixings. Whereas Ben's Chili Bowl seemed to have "sold-out," Ray's Hell Burger appeared much more authentic, populated primarily by its pre-fame clientele. I plan on stopping by Ray's again for internship Part II.

The Bernank

Jeremy ... awesome guy

On Wednesday, Jeremy, Kara, and I went to a Federal Reserve board meeting on debit card regulations (http://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/boardmeetings/20110629open.htm). We went because we're all end the fed junkies, but expected only to see some bureaucrats speak in a secluded room. Upon arrival, we had to roast in the sun for 45 minutes, as security processed our IDs and social security numbers, which had been submitted days earlier. We essentially entered through the basement: Jeremy rightly noted that the carpets smelled like urine, and Kara and I were planning to burn dollar bills in an act of defiance. In groups of 10, we took the elevator to the second floor and arrived at the main entrance hallway: my expectations had already been exceeded. We then walked under an archway emblazoned with "Board of Governors," entered the antechamber of the FOMC meeting room, and then, lo and behold, we went into the actual FOMC room. Sitting there was Governor Duke, Governor Tarullo, Governor Raskin, Vice Chair Yellen, and yes, the Bernank (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k). After I got over the shock-and-awe of seeing Chairman Bernanke in person, I, and the other interns, realized we had no idea what the hell they were talking about. In my opinion, the Fed is a destructive institution, evidenced, by their vote that day, where everyone except for Governor Duke (who voted nay), conceded that the proposed regulation was bad and its effects on costs inconclusive, yet still voted because Dodd-Frank "prescribed" regulation for the sake of regulation.

That night I biked around the national mall and listened to the Marine Core Bank play on the steps of the Capitol.