Another Poll, Another Low

Progressives, take heart! The Republicans can't even buy votes any more. The President is now at a new all-time low, no news there, and a clear majority of Americans want the Democrats to control the Congress. Not even Frist's $100 bribe could change the fortunes of the misfortunate Republicans.

Did you see Dr. Distance Diagnosis this morning on Today? He looked like someone woke him way too early, either that or the Botox guy got a little happy with the needle. That grimace-grin of his never left his face as he tried to rationalize bribery, stating it was one point of an eight point energy plan. When a Tennesseean talks about eight points, they're generally talking about a buck, which brings us to our next subject, the Republican attempt to bankrupt America while re-creating the robber baron class through tax incentives to the top.

Know why there are so many poor people in Mexico? It's because the wealth is concentrated at the top of the society. The upper income Mexicans don't get taxed, the lower income Mexicans don't get an education. The result is a non-existant middle class. Sound familiar? This situation was the norm in this country just after the turn of the century. The rise of unions and the Depression leveled the playing field and a number of Progressives got things up and running again, although it really took the second World War to bring manufacturing back up to par. The Republican tax system favors the re-creation of this situation and George, it ain't trickling down. It never will. It didn't for Reagan, it didn't during the last century and it won't now. All you're doing is bankrupting the country.

Valerie Plame, the CIA agent outed by Rove and Libby, was conducting operations to determine Iran's nucular capability when Bush's stooges took her out of the picture. Talk about the irony. Is treason a high crime and misdemeanor? In his effort to sell a useless war against Iraq, Bush gave Iran the bomb. Crawford, would you please go to Washington and claim your idiot?

In possibly the biggest story of the day, buried underneath useless immigration bloviation and other fluff, was the news that America spends twice more per capita on health care than the British but we're sicker. Our rates of almost every major disease are higher than the English despite the vast number of dollars we throw at our maladies. My personal belief is that without universal, affordable health care, we wait longer to see a doctor, particularly the growing (since Bush took office) percentage of us without medical insurance. The interventions then are more costly. There's also the tendency of prescribing the newest, most expensive drug when a generic might do. Hey, I've lived under European medical care and it's pretty good. You aren't going to get the latest antihistamine when you go see a doctor but if you need it, it's there. Paradoxically, even rich Americans were less healthy than lower class British. We need more exercise and a better health care system. A bit less stress might be nice as well. That includes financial stress, a byproduct of Bush's economy.