Social networking

ChrossTalk has become my new and all consuming project at the Network. We sent the first two interviews to the Director of New Media, and if given approval by his superior, our podcasts will appear on the Network's website and Facebook page, which has 200,000+ "likes." Suffice it to say, that would be an amazing opportunity. What's more, Chip is in contact with the Brown Daily Herald (BDH) and the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).

As someone who socially networked (i.e. on the internet) poorly in high school, I had to slog through other blogs yesterday, learning how to promote ChrossTalk via new media. Designing and constructing the blog was relatively easy. In an effort to spread the word, Chip and I blasted an email to 100s of people on our email lists. I created a ChrossTalk twitter and Facebook page and attempted to synchronize them with the ChrossTalk site. All the while, Chip worked and is working on our rrs feed and creating subscriptions on Itunes. We submitted our url to google crawl and hope in the coming weeks that our site will be the first to appear on the google search engine. It's difficult now getting the systems in place, but then again, we're just a start-up. This a brave new world into which I'm venturing.

In Biology we learned about two reproductive strategies -- K-selection and R-selection. K-selection refers to those species who rear a few children, but take care of them and invest in their survival, like elephants and humans. R-selection refers to those species who produce 1000s of children and hope a few survive. In that spirit, I've employed R-selection for coordinating interviews, also known as "fire-and-forget." I've sent out probably 30 queries, and so far only two have confirmed, a few more denied, and most have not responded. When it comes to organizing interviews through July, I'm in limbo.

As a side note, Chip and I gave Chris a squash lesson: I'm good cop, he's bad cop.

Charles Krauthammer

Today all the interns took the metro to meet with Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist for the Washington Post. The meeting was excellent, lasting well over two hours.

Mr. Krauthammer began with a 25 minute discussion on how he found his profession, entitled "how not to become columnist." Interestingly he went to medical school and was a psychiatrist for 3 years but he had a couple of fortuitous career events happen at the right times. When asked to write two columns a week -- the industry norm at the time -- he insisted (successfully) that he write only one, explaining to us that "writing a column is like having sex with a nymphomaniac ... once you stop, you start up right again."

We then moved to question-and-answers. Mr. Krauthammer spoke so eloquently and comprehensively that we spent 90 minutes on four questions. We talked about the importance of studying history, the Obama revolution, the national debt, and Israel. He labeled the intense partisanship in Washington as a positive force, reminding us that being an ideologue means that one adheres to a strict set of political beliefs. Mr. Krauthammer then explained that we are in the midst of a great national and public debate in this country, one that decides whether we honor the tradition of limited government and the Constitution or follow the path of a European Social Democracy and encourage a nanny-state and rampant spending: in the former, the individual defines his own goals in life; in the latter, the government has that job. In my opinion, the former is clearly superior. Our President has been destructive: one has to work real hard to accumulate trillions of debt in just three years. Mr. Krauthammer confirmed my beliefs, explaining that the consequences of reelecting President Obama -- a democratic Reagan, in terms of revolutionary change -- would be disastrous. The Republican presidential field is mediocre at this point. However, there's a generation of up-and-coming stars -- Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan -- who will be prime to run in the following cycles. The question is, can Republicans continue to command public opinion. The President is ignoring entitlement reform, betting that Americans approve of deficit reduction and spending cuts in the abstract, but shirk away from the tangibles.

In other news, ChrossTalk officially went public today, and we posted our fist two podcasts! Please visit www.chrosstalk.wordpress.com.

This weekend

First order of business: I finally figured out how to use my camera and have now uploaded photos to the appropriate posts. If you're at all interested, please look back at some other posts to see the photos I've taken.

For me, this weekend was all about being a tourist.

On Saturday, I visited the National Portrait Gallery. I could've spent hours there, but as I was limited on time, I decided to visit the President's exhibit, which was amazing. Part of Mr. White's US History class was studying portraits of American Presidents: the exhibit displayed many of these famous paintings. I was able to sneak a picture with the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington during his final days in office. I then took the DC Metro downtown to Ben's Chili Bowl, a DC landmark. As all tourists do, I ordered a Chili Half-Smoke. The meal was good, but I honestly don't understand all of the hype. That afternoon I played squash with Chip, and then went to a cook-out (that's what they're called in the South apparently) in Alexandria, VA. In a whimsical and impulsive moment, I had Chris give me a buzz-cut afterwards.

Today, Chris and Pete took me to the Florida Avenue Grill (another DC landmark), and I had my first taste of scrapple, which I thought was DELICIOUS. I took a quick bike ride through the FDR memorial (eh ...) and at 1 pm, I went to Result (the gym) and had my first league match. Unfortunately I lost in 3: I played an older guy, which means he wailed on the ball and hit crazy, unconventional shots. Suffice it to say, I was quite rattled. Tonight, I hosted a dinner party -- Weeds with Sausage -- at the boat.

CHROSSTALK update

Today I worked on CHROSSTALK. All morning I designed and constructed the new website (http://chrosstalk.wordpress.com/), prepared questions for our afternoon interview, and researched talking points for the commentary Chip and I do.

I joined Pete and Justin Goodyear for lunch at Chef Geoff's. I had Justin's dad, Mr. Goodyear, during senior year, and it was really interesting to get to know the family better.

This afternoon, I went to the Progressive Policy Institute, and Chip and I interviewed Will Marshall. Chip then came back to the American Action Network/Forum to record the commentary for our podcast. In order to not distract the other interns in cubicles, Chip and I took a private office. Suffice it say, Chip and I got cross with each other! Our first podcast will most likely go public this Monday.

After work, I went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I was surprised at how faded the Declaration was. John Hancock's signature is virtually unrecognizable, less the curve of the lower j. Pete later told me that the document was pinned to a wall in front of sunlight for 50 years.

I returned to the boat, and took a quick sunset bike ride to the Jefferson Memorial. I forgot to bring a bike lock, but nevertheless enjoyed staring at the outside of the monument.

Busy, busy, busy

The morning began with my first ever committee hearing! At 9 am, five other interns and I went to the Dirksen Senate Office Building to here Douglas Holtz-Eakin, our boss, testify before the Senate Finance Committee (http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=06edea00-5056-a032-520b-ed4523ba7815). I had two big scares. First, I realized in the cab that I had left my ID in the office, but found out that it was not necessary for entrance into the building. Second, when we arrived, there was 50-75 person line -- members of the public, for whom the committee hearing was open. However, the interns and I were able to cut the entire line -- to the chagrin of the public -- and sit in the front row behind Doug, Bruce Vladeck, Gov. Fletcher (R-KY), and Gov. Patrick (D-MA).

I learned that senators do not have to be present at a given hearing. In attendance was Chairman Baucus (D-MT), ranking member Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV), Sen. Bingaman (D-NM), Sen. Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Carper (D-DE), Sen. Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Thune (R-SD), and Sen. Burr (R-NC). Interestingly, senators from both parties questioned primarily those testifying who shared similar political views. Consequently, Gov. Patrick spoke a lot, while Doug was asked very little. As with all things public on the Hill, it seemed the hearing was staged. Another intern confirmed that a lot of real work that happens in DC occurs during private bill mark-ups and committee hearings.

That afternoon, Chip and I had lunch to further plan upcoming ChrossTalk episodes. I continue requesting interviews with Washington luminaries. I've employed the fire-and-forget strategy. Cast as many queries as possible and hope that one person actually returns my call. I called Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's office, trying to get an in by emphasizing that Chip and I both attend Brown, and that the podcast will be sponsored by the Brown Daily Herald. We'll see if the Senator's office ever returns my call.

This afternoon, I continued doing research for the primer and had to recycle all the old stationary for the Forum/Network's old address. I spent the last hour of my day working on an excel equation that plotted a commission-donation relationship for potential benefactors. My efforts were fruitless. What would have taken Doug -- a veritable economics genius -- five minutes, took us a failed hour.

Holy crap

Yesterday, I again went to the Capitol Hill Club for breakfast. I was leisurely eating, staring out over the crowd to see if anyone recognizable was dining. Lo and behold, at around 9 am, in walked Michele Bachmann. At first I was incredulous, believing that I confused Rep. Bachmann with another, strikingly similar woman. She sat down at the table next to the bar -- where I was sitting -- and her distinctive Minnesotan accent confirmed that it was indeed Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), a Republican candidate for President in 2012. Unfortunately, I could neither approach her for a conversation nor ask for an interview, because that would have been inappropiate and out of place. As I have said before, Republican Reps go to the basement dining room of the Capitol Hill Club for the express purpose of avoiding picture-hungry gawkers like me. Alas, the moment will last only in my memories and not on iPhoto.

Later that morning, I went with Cameron, an employee at the American Action Forum to an event hosted by Resources for the Future, entitled "Energy Policy Symposium: Market Responses and the Effectiveness of Energy Policies." The conference was about the way in which government can nudge market forces to promote clean energy policies, rather than the normal doom-and-gloom Armageddon scenario one often associates with any discussions regarding the environment. The talks and panels were generally WAY over my head, but nevertheless, still interesting.

My brain was pretty fried after the symposium, but I continued doing research on the Fed primer I will be writing for the Forum (provided they deem it worthy of attaching their name to it).

More legit tasks

I am beginning to establish credibility as an intern. One of my supervisors asked me to code a second round of regulations. This task was far more important than the last, because it was Dodd-Frank specific, and presumably will be used by center-right conservatives on the Hill.

Another Forum employee and I were tasked with writing a primer on the Federal Reserve. The task, suffice it to say, is huge! We have 12 pages to talk about the history, status, and issues surrounding our nation's central bank. Provided that we do a good job, the Forum might use our article on their site.

I'd like to introduce you to a new segment of my blog: Chross Talk. Chip and I are creating a podcast, in which we discuss current event, interview Washington luminaries, and analyze our discussions. We get cross when talking, as we often rattle each other.