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What You Need

2008-01-31 - 9:43 a.m.

Wow, up early this morning. And temperatures are in the mid-50s right now. It was the mid-40s last night.

So Brin didn't bring the hot weather down here. Blame her.

No, better yet - blame Al Gore. That global warming better hurry the fuck up.

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The California legislature "terminated" Gov. Schwarzenegger's version of universal health care. The panel vote was 7-1 against sending it to the full Senate. They decided that, considering were in a $14 billion deficit, the program was too expensive:

Like collapses in Illinois, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, this one crumpled because of the costs, which are always much higher than anticipated. The truth teller was state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who thought to ask about the price tag of a major new entitlement amid what's already a $14.5 billion budget shortfall.

An independent analysis confirmed the plan would be far more expensive than proponents admitted. Even under the most favorable assumptions, spending would outpace revenue by $354 million after two years, and likely $3.9 billion or more. "A situation that I thought was bad," Mr. Perata noted, "in fact was worse."

And Democrats said it still didn't do enough:

The centerpiece of the Schwarzenegger plan was the "individual mandate," which is also the heart of HillaryCare 2.0. Such a law would compel everyone to acquire insurance, with subsidies for those who couldn't afford it. But the individual mandate incited a liberal revolt. Many Democrats and some unions argued the subsidies weren't generous enough to cover lower-income families, and it wasn't fair to penalize them for coverage they couldn't afford. One state Senator called the plan "a knife in the throat of the working poor." So the plan failed because it was too expensive -- and because for some Democrats it wasn't expensive enough.

If it would be too expensive for California, how could the rest of the nation afford it?

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CNN did a bit this morning on their "America Today" program. They said that, for the average American, money is tight and "we're all feeling the pinch", so retailers are lowering prices. What's interesting is the woman they profiled: she's described as having two kids and just lost her job...and she's buying a flat-screen TV for Super Bowl Sunday.

Gee, when my money's tight, I stop buying DVDs. If people can't afford to buy food or heating oil, how can they afford the cell phones and TVs and X-boxes? Oh yeah. Super Bowl.

Who's playing, anyway?

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Lots to do today. Tell ya about it tomorrow.

Be seeing you.



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1 comments so far

Jeff - 2008-02-01 01:05:29 - http://musicman6724.diaryland.com
Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Colts, right? :-D Or maybe the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Oilers.

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