thanks for the links zap!

while i want to feel hopeful, i sometimes feel perturbed at how diluted it winds up sounding somehow? (agnes, welcome to the world of politics)

that is not arrogance speaking! i am aware of the full plate that even the most integral person would have in front of them by now!

and yet i want to say it!

It's easy to feel perturbed with all of the partisan dirt bags in Congress. A friend's brother (who is retired) and his wife (who owns part of a small business) have to pay $10K/year for their insurance and think that it will soon go up to $18,000 per year. All this while our scummy legislators get the deals on theirs and get to vote themselves raises. Evan Bayh summed it up when he said congress was full of brain-dead partisanship. I think it's full of the stuff of fertilizer.

Sue, if policy was made using fundamental Christian dogma then things would be good - "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." (That would be the fundamental Christian dogma I am referring to and what would be better than folks treating others with the same respect and kindness they wish for themselves?)

It seems policy is made on the basis of greed - what gets my pockets filled with cash regardless of how the other guy fares. I certainly feel it should go back to the way intended by the founders - one (or perhaps 2) term(s) and no more; no tenure/no pension; collects a salary only while in office; they participate in Social Security like the rest of us, they can purchase there own retirement plan like the rest of us, no voted pay raises - it only increases relative to inflation or 3% whichever is lower, they use the same health care like the rest of us, they abide by the same laws we do.

Capt. you are on the money! Thanks for sharing!

Ron, some pigs are better than others...we (the rest of us) don't get to sleep on sheets.

Love this James Taylor lyric:

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

zap, i can't argue with his statement about congress, but i am not so sure about him either. i mean when i first heard that he left, i was like, "okay, what is this now?" i didn't even know him, so now i am like...let me see what i can learn

i came across this, so i will post it here:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/2 ... /712160424

... things that make you say "hmmmmmmm"

I was merely paraphrasing what he said about congress being brain dead. People may have their suspicions about a person but that doesn't necessarily invalidate everything they say or do.

But back to health care, as soon as I have to go independent on my health insurance (later this year) mine (with my sweetie included), like the friend's brother I mentioned, will go up to over $10,000 per year. We won't be able to afford that so we're going to have to go without it. Oh no, there's not a thing wrong with our health care system. There's lots of things .... 10,000 to start with.

i take that as complete and utter sarcasm...in which case we are in complete agreement.