And therein, as I see it, lies the big clanker in the thinking of many regarding this health care bill.

There are people around—and more than we like to think about—who live in their cars or in cardboard cartons and who don't know where their next meal is coming from. How in blazes are they supposed to be able to afford insurance premiums!?? Or pay a fine if they can't ante up the premiums?

I sometimes think that national politicians leave their brains in a bottom desk drawer when they head for Washington, D. C. If even Taiwan has a universal, publicly funded health care system, what the hell is the matter with the United States, other than rampant corporate greed and chronic stupidity?

A beacon to the rest of the world? I think not!

Don Firth