There are only two issues right now: health care and global warming. President Obama, in Rooseveltian form, is attempting to use each of these areas to dramatically increase the scope and specter (I love that, specter... sounds sinister, which is another good word) of the federal government.

Here's an excellent article on health care in Singapore:


Why don't we see a fee list for health care procedures? Medical savings accounts. Personal responsibility. Transparency. Sigh.

There are simple, straightforward ways to improve health care in the US... ways that empower us, not the feds. These will not be considered by the current administration. Will a more balanced Congress force such consideration? Or perhaps a sharp rap on the nose with newspaper?

QOTD

"I'm about to get $250 from the government as part of this super entitlement. I'm entitled to a cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security. You're entitled to that when the cost of living goes up, and you're entitled to this entitlement when you're not entitled to it. It's the ultimate expression of our culture."
- George Will, on President Obama's proposal to send $250 to everyone on Soc Sec, source

I'll give you the Geithner QOTD, then I'll put it in plain English for you investors out there.

QOTD2

"A classic pattern in past financial crises is governments tend to put on the brakes too soon, withdraw support too early, and that's been a very costly mistake and we're going to be very careful to avoid that mistake"
- Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, on Oct 16, 2009... source

Investing interpretation in plain English:



buy high, sell higher... yow, bill

PS - Here's the goofiest dang thing... copy/paste of the top 5 runners, last year, Naperville Turkey Trot, men 45-49 (source):

MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
Place O'All Name                  No.   S Ag City                 Time
===== ===== ===================== ===== = == ==================== =======
1    32 MARC WOODCOCK          4957 M 45 GLENDALE HEIGHTS       17:42
2    61 RANDY MEYLE            3648 M 47 OSWEGO                 18:31
3    63 WAYNE VILCHUCK         2937 M 47 BATAVIA                18:32
4    66 TOM ZIELINSKI          3743 M 47 NAPERVILLE             18:38
5    75 DENNIS KUBICK          2874 M 46 STRONGSVILLE           18:49

Interesting... can I do 3 6's?
Interesting.
Also, what was the weather last year? Really bad, right?
Good weather would bump these times a lot.
I'll have to run 1 6:00 and see how I feel.

Labels: healthcare, politics, qotd