Real Difficulties

Wow...here's a bit of trivia for ya: Did you know that there are Democrats out there who actually call themselves "progressive" instead of moderates? Amazing! Well anyway, they can write fairly entertaining letters as well, like this one which will put a sarcastic smile on your face:

I must also admit that I love it when you talk like a Populist and not like a member of the ownership class. “Freedom” is a great word and it sounded great in the Inaugural and “ownership” also sounds just super.

However, if you don’t mind a suggestion. There are naysayers out there who question your real dedication to promoting an ownership society. Strange but true. Apparently, they come from the small number that did not help you attain your overwhelming mandate. Not to nitpick, but some of those 59+ million complain and whine that:

1) The minimum wage of $5.15 has remained frozen since 1997. If, by the way, the minimum wage kept up with CEO salaries since just 1993, they say it would now be $15.71 an hour. Where they get the nerve to compare peasants to kings just floors me.

[snip]

6) Over the last 50 years corporate taxes as a percentage of federal tax receipts have fallen from 34% to 7% while taxes on workers as a percentage have increased. And they think this is wrong!

[snip]

Another suggestion: Do not let the Social Security actuaries or those of the Congressional Budget Office testify in front of Congress. Actuaries typically don’t understand politics. Some say that actuaries are accountants without the charisma but that is just not true. I have met numerous actuaries who have looked at my shoes rather than their own! But they are dangerous because they just say stuff without thinking of how it will sell to the American public.

Perhaps you could have former CMS head, Tom Scully, return to the government. Now, that’s a man who knows how to handle actuaries! When the chief Medicare actuary, Richard Foster, determined that the actual cost of the Medicare Drug Bill was 25 to 50% higher than the public statements, Scully knew just what to do. He told the upstart to keep the information to himself or he would kill him. Actually, he didn’t have the guts to say that but he should have. He was a voice of moderation. He only said he would fire him if he gave the information to those evil Democrats. Mission Accomplished.

The Drug Bill passed, the Drug companies got their $140 billion in guaranteed profits and Medicare was put on the chopping block. What’s not to admire?