On Rational Actors, Kevin and Alex discuss the GOP’s tactics vs. its strategy on the shutdown and debt ceiling. Are Republicans just grandstanding over the debt limit, as Obama did when he was a senator? What would happen if the debt ceiling was actually breached? They discuss public reaction to the shutdown, and fault the White House’s media strategy. Alex argues that good government reforms, like banning earmarks, have unintentionally created Congressional dysfunction. But is this crisis actually the fault of American democracy itself?