I caught a bit of a recent Republican debate and Gov. Huckabee managed to trip the rare "Triple B.S. meter". It's like the golden sombero in baseball terms (when a guy strikes out four times in a game).
He was asked whose side he was on by George Stephanopoulos: "Sen. Grassley's proposal to expand gov't control of health care or President Bush's promise to veto it?" He said, "I'm on the American people's side."
Groan! Strike 1. Not answering the question and pandering in a meaningless way all in one sentence. Oy vey.
Then he pulled out a chestnut so ancient it ought be preserved in amber, saying that he believes that Congress should have the same health care as the American people and then - THEN - they'd fix the health care system right quick.
Groan II. There's no way Congress will ever vote that they get the same health care as ordinary Americans. It'll happen when pigs fly.
Then, rare for a Republican if not unusual for a Democrat, he annoyed me thrice within the space of twenty seconds! A record! He said he feels the answer to our health care problems is (drumroll) - greater emphasis on wellness rather than sickness.
Groan III! First, it completely ignores the root causes of the health care crisis by ignoring lack of insureds, the incredible expansion of what health care now entails, and the fact that it is a human-labor intensive industry. The wellness philosophy is great but it merely postpones the inevitable. Wellness programs don't elminate sickness and death but merely delay them. Second, it sounds suspiciously like a call for government to go into micro-managing our exercise routines or lack thereof as well as every thing we eat (fast food - no way!).
Sign of our Interdependence: Large amounts of cash were pumped into European stock markets today to insure liquidity of their markets - the first time since 9/11.
Why? Because Americans can't afford their mortgages, either due to too much debt or economic illiteracy in taking on unaffordable loans. (Obviously some is due to job loss, but it's hard to pin it on that what with unemployment figures where they are.)
Amazing isn't it? A relatively small percentage of Americans defaulting on their home loans can send the world stock markets plunging.
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