Just wanted to point out that there are a lot of situations in life where two alternate solutions are both better than splitting the difference. For instance there are scenarios in poker where betting zero or betting half the pot are both better than betting 25% of the pot. Solomon provides a second example.

Another bullseye, David.

I am not a Sklansky hater. However, David, often times I read your threads it feels like you need to elaborate your thoughts a little further.

What in particular did you find better in the "fiscal cliff" scenarios without compromise than you did within the perimeters of the compromise?

Brilliant insight! Now, try and connect this with the obvious "compromise" being alluded to. Why do you think the current compromise is of the type in the OP. And if you don't think that, why on earth make this thread?

I call it a "Sklansky situation"™.

2p2 is not your blo...

Disregard.

Carry on.

I bet zero once and the guy mucked.

2+2 hosts Sklansky's blog, but no-one reads it, so he also posts his stunning insights here.

lol this link is A+. Love the unbroken list of "no comments".

I strongly encourage people to start commenting on his blog. It will have positive externalities.

Agree with OP... either dems have a good idea repubs try to stop or repubs have a good idea dems try to stop.... compromise is usually the useless giz that ends up between the buttcheeks.

GOAT blog post

Ah, I see why there are no comments - DS has comments turned off. Pity.

I don't know if it is or not.

It has something to do with weird spam comments.

Okay, I'm going to use this thread as an opportunity to respond to Sklansky's most recent blog post, Two Simple Ideas To Reduce Mass Murders

There are ~130,000 schools in the USA, plus ~7,000 colleges. How much is this system going to cost on an annualised basis, including set-up costs? $1000 per year? And how many deaths will it prevent? There's an average of about 2.5 school shootings each year, but many of them involve few if any fatalities. And for those that do, how much is this going to achieve?

Presumably this post is a reaction to Sandy Hook. But at Sandy Hook, most of what this proposal would do already existed. They recently installed a security system requiring identification before entry. Students and staff learned about the shooting via the intercom. Newtown police were dispatched almost immediately after Lanza entered the school, and CT state police six minutes later.

I'm pretty sure this already exists in the form of mental health professionals and doctor/patient confidentiality. Maybe there could be more lenience in not reporting people who are an imminent danger to others if they turn themselves in, but there's a definite trade-off there.

Why post it in Politics, then? Because it's tangentially related to a current political issue?

Yes, because the invention of the armored vehicle made small arms obsolete.

The weird thing is that mechanized infantry requires labor unions.

I think there may be a way to get them out of the tank.

Also,

Re: Solomon: What if that baby was Hitler?

I think this is just common sense.

Plan A might work. Plan B might work slightly worse than Plan A. A mixture of both plans might be a complete disaster though.

I don't know if anyone would disagree with this hypothetical.

Baby Hitler split in half, tho.

Food which tolerates bacterial growth should be maintained above 135F or below 41F. Compromising and keeping it at 88F for more than four hours is not wise.

Throw acid in his face?