The Republican Budget Proposal

[Andrew Mayer]

So... The Repubs held a big press conference yesterday, promising an alternate proposal to Obama's budget.

And then, they didn't really have one.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncanblack/repub.jpg

The mocking begins: (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/27/1868077.aspx)

Dude, where’s my budget? Let’s be honest: Yesterday’s House Republican budget rollout was a P.R. disaster for the GOP. “Here it is, Mr. President” was the title of the GOP Leader blog touting that they had answered Obama’s dare to produce a budget. The problem -- their budget rollout didn’t contain any hard budget numbers or deficit projections. They say those hard numbers will come out next week. But now we learn that Reps. Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan objected to unveiling yesterday’s “blueprint,” but were overruled by Reps. John Boehner and Mike Pence....Also, this episode could end up creating a rift in the GOP over how to combat the Obama White House. After all, Senate Republicans wanted nothing to do with an alternative, and now Mitch McConnell, et al are either laughing at their House GOP colleagues, furious at them, or both.

[cesare]

Yep, it's been pure comedy gold for since it was released yesterday. There's a lot of funny stuff being said about it ("it contains more pictures of windmills than numbers"), but I like Ezra Klein's comments:


The Republican proposal, as you might expect, doesn't actually have a health care plan. But it does have this: "Republicans will be on the side of quality versus mediocrity, affordability versus unsustainable debt, and freedom of care versus bureaucrats in control. And we will be on the side of patients, doctors, and the American people." They are also in favor of good things rather than bad things, moving forward rather than going backwards, the hobbits rather than the orcs, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom. That said, the GOP does understand that some voters might be looking for specificity on their health plan. So they included this graphic:

http://blog.prospect.org/blog/ezraklein/repubchart.jpg

It's like someone showed them a flowchart. Once. And only for a few seconds. And refused to explain it.

[BlueJackalope]

So... The Repubs held a big press conference yesterday, promising an alternate proposal to Obama's budget.

And then, they didn't really have one.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncanblack/repub.jpg

The mocking begins: (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/27/1868077.aspx)


What is the problem? Did you not see how when put through the magic "Republican Road to Recovery" cube Happy White People emerge?

[bloo]

Those three balls...they look familiar.
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/brands/0015/6020/brand.gif
(Symbol of Pawnbrokers)

[Enidigm]

... and still no one has photoshopped a

STEP 2 "....."
STEP 3 "PROFIT!"

? You disappoint me internet.

[Adam B]

Leadership!

"We'll do things! And they'll be good! And it won't even be that hard, we promise! Just go with it!"

Has anyone here *not* had a boss who, at some point, basically said the above? Because when that happens, you know that that's when you have to start scrambling and getting your own shit together, because when it all goes to hell (because it's an implausible task, requires way more work than anyone budgeted for, etc etc) you better have your own CYA plan in place.

[Anaxagoras]

Wait.... is that "flow chart" actually in the plan? I honestly thought that was a not-terribly-clever parody.

Seriously? "Republican Road to Recovery"? Why not just write "Magic happens here" and be done with it?

[LesJarvis]

Wait.... is that "flow chart" actually in the plan? I honestly thought that was a not-terribly-clever parody. Seriously? "Republican Road to Recovery"? Why not just write "Magic happens here" and be done with it? I like this variation: http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq122/hilzoy/repbudgetwhoops.jpg

[Kareem]

TPM had some hilarious videos up the last couple of days. One was Gibbs in a press conference, who said that he read the proposal. "It took me several minutes" and the windmill comment that was pointed out above. MSNBC had an interview with a Republican congressman that was similarly hilarious. "Yesterday we didn't have a plan, today our plan is being attacked, which is progress", along with some other craziness.

[prolix]

... and still no one has photoshopped a

STEP 2 "....."
STEP 3 "PROFIT!"

? You disappoint me internet.
Courtesy Nate Silver (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/03/real-republican-road-to-recovery.html):

http://pcd.dreamhosters.com/538/images/rrtr.png

[charmtrap]

Fark (http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4291765&startid=49808303), predictably, has been having lots of fun:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k219/burndtdan/politics/stimwow.jpg

This one killed me, not sure why:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1200/scarfacechart.jpg

[Andrew Mayer]

The DNC jumps in on the fun. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAstDdFA2M&feature=player_embedded)

[cesare]

Wait.... is that "flow chart" actually in the plan? I honestly thought that was a not-terribly-clever parody.

No, it's hilariously real. The plan is full of them. They needed to get it up to a heavy 19 pages somehow.

[Matthew Gallant]

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1498/flowchart2.jpg

[Cubit]

That shamwow guy scares me.

[Robert Sharp]

I'm still confused. So the first graphic...in fact, none of these graphics...is the real plan, right? But the real plan does use a flow chart? Does that flow chart include the silly box somewhere? Is it at least pretty detailed? I'm not sure what to be upset about here.

[LesJarvis]

I'm still confused. So the first graphic...in fact, none of these graphics...is the real plan, right? But the real plan does use a flow chart? Does that flow chart include the silly box somewhere? Is it at least pretty detailed? I'm not sure what to be upset about here.

The charts in the first two posts are direct from the plan. Everything else is a parody. You can view the actual plan in its entirety here:

http://www.gop.gov/solutions/budget/road-to-recovery-final

[Mordrak]

I think the republicans have a real opportunity to turn themselves into the party of trust busting again. A big part of the problem is the size of these companies. That's the only reasonable counter position to Obama's plan. Put the regulations back in place and break these companies back up.

It's one I could support.

[Aleck]

I think the republicans have a real opportunity to turn themselves into the party of trust busting again. A big part of the problem is the size of these companies. That's the only reasonable counter position to Obama's plan. Put the regulations back in place and break these companies back up.

It's one I could support.

It's not one the republican party can support without some major reforms in the party. Biting the hand that feeds you and all that...

[unbongwah]

Now all this thread needs is a LOLcat "I can haz recuveri?!?1?!" pic.

[bago]

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/371/rrrcopy.jpg
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3526/rrrserious.jpg

Stuff.

[Andrew Mayer]

I'm still confused. So the first graphic...in fact, none of these graphics...is the real plan, right? But the real plan does use a flow chart? Does that flow chart include the silly box somewhere? Is it at least pretty detailed? I'm not sure what to be upset about here.

Your cognitive dissonance is awesome.

[Angie Gallant]

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/371/flowchart4.jpg

[Midnight Son]

Where's the Candy Crappin' Unicorn?

[bloo]

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/371/flowchart4.jpg

Shawks Haters Club Lives!
http://www.shawks.net/

[Dirt]

The party of ideals that has run out of ideas.

[Mordrak]

You can only be the party of "Govern by looking the other way" for so long before you actually forget how to govern. Heh. Morning Joe quipped a couple of days ago (or a week?) that "Socialism is hard" in reference to the treasury department and the bailouts. No, Joe, it's governing that's hard. It's time your party learned about it again.

[Midnight Son]

It's time your party learned about it again.

And they just got done wasting 8 years that could have been used for some learnin'.

[Damien Neil]

The thing that really pisses me off is that now is a time when a serious, adult opposition party with real ideas would be invaluable. Instead, we get this.

How long is it going to take before the Republican party can stop sounding like a bad Onion article?

[Eric T Cheng]

The thing that really pisses me off is that now is a time when a serious, adult opposition party with real ideas would be invaluable. Instead, we get this.

How long is it going to take before the Republican party can stop sounding like a bad Onion article?

November 7, 2012.

[Angie Gallant]

This is almost, but not quite as funny as their budget. (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017479.php) OMG PASS MOAR SOCIALISMISMISMSISM?!!?!

[Ben Sones]

Your cognitive dissonance is awesome.

That's not cognitive dissonance. In fact, I'd say "That can't possibly be real, right?" is a very rational response. A mistaken one, as it happens, but rational.

[SpoofyChop]

The thing that really pisses me off is that now is a time when a serious, adult opposition party with real ideas would be invaluable. Instead, we get this.

How long is it going to take before the Republican party can stop sounding like a bad Onion article?

Well put.

I know that many people are still in party mode here over the defeat of the Republicans but I can't really understand the attitudes among liberals right now.

This country is likely facing the worst inflationary cycle we've seen in the history of this country because of the unbelievable debt we've incurred (thanks to both republicans and democrats...probably mostly republicans) over the last 30-40 years and now Obama's budget is going to make the previous deficits look silly and you guys are still acting like it's all a big joke for the most part.

I think we're going to find out in four years that despite his best efforts to bring us out of this crisis and then turn things around Obama is going to have failed because as a nation we simply can't discipline ourselves. We keep electing politicians that agree to borrow money from Japan and China and then spend it like madmen.

Eventually these guys are going to stop lending us money and then we're going to inflate the debt away and the party will be permanently over.

I actually think we're lucky that we have Obama rather than McCain, but I have never been more pessimistic about the state of the country as I am now.

It's hard to watch you guys laughing it up like it's all just a game.

:(

[Robert Sharp]

Who's laughing at the overall issue? I think this is a terrible situation. The Republicans SHOULD be the ones providing real alternatives and trying to keep Obama from going too far with throwing money around. But THIS? This IS a joke. It's a vague list of hot button Republican issues without any substantive contribution to the budget.

Frankly, this administration's recent moves have me perplexed at best, and horrified at worst. I'm truly scared that my money won't be worth jack in a couple of years due to inflation. OTOH, I don't know enough about economics or politics to know whether any of this will work. So I'm still taking a wait and see approach.

But I am not laughing over the whole issue. Like you, I'm upset. I think the economy would have recovered on its own without a lot of this stimulus. I would have done the safety net things that Obama did (mortgage help; COBRA adjustments; tax breaks for companies doing things that will help the situation), but I think there's a ton of pork that just isn't necessary to get things going. This is like FDR gone wild, but without the benefit of a true cause for Americans to get behind.

I think the whole thing is a mess.

[Mordrak]

Robert, take a deep breath. We're not turning into zimbabwe. What recent move makes you think we are? I don't know why you expect anything different from republicans since they've been this way since the mid 90s at least and likely the 80s when Reagan took their brains away.

[Mordrak]

This country is likely facing the worst inflationary cycle we've seen in the history of this country because of the unbelievable debt we've incurred (thanks to both republicans and democrats...probably mostly republicans) over the last 30-40 years and now Obama's budget is going to make the previous deficits look silly and you guys are still acting like it's all a big joke for the most part.


You have to realize that the spending is slotted for 1-2 years and will be scaled back as the economy recovers. Obama isn't arguing for spending 4 trillion a year for the next 10 years. We were and are facing a deflationary spiral (Aeon recently quoted the inflation rate at .2%) which is very dangerous, much more dangerous than inflation at the 5-7% range.

[Jason McCullough]

This country is likely facing the worst inflationary cycle we've seen in the history of this country because of the unbelievable debt we've incurred (thanks to both republicans and democrats...probably mostly republicans) over the last 30-40 years and now Obama's budget is going to make the previous deficits look silly and you guys are still acting like it's all a big joke for the most part.

I'd love to hear an explanation on how Obama's debt plans are going to result in worse inflation than the Civil War (http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us) (75% inflation over 5 years for the union).

[Aeon221]

You have to realize that the spending is slotted for 1-2 years and will be scaled back as the economy recover. Obama isn't arguing for spending 4 trillion a year for the next 10 years. We were and are facing a deflationary spiral (Aeon recently quoted the inflation rate at .2%) which is very dangerous, much more dangerous than inflation at the 5-7% range.

wat? When did I become The News?

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm


Expenditure Compound
Category Changes from preceding month annual Un-
rate adjusted
3-mos. 12-mos.
Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. ended ended
2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2009 2009 Feb. 2009 Feb. 2009

All items.......... .0 .0 -.8 -1.7 -.8 .3 .4 -.5 .2
Food and beverages .6 .5 .4 .2 .1 .1 -.1 .1 4.7
Housing........... .0 -.1 .0 -.1 .0 .0 .0 .0 1.9
Apparel........... .4 -.3 -.7 .1 -.6 .3 1.3 3.9 .8
Transportation.... -.9 -.1 -4.8 -9.7 -5.0 1.3 1.9 -7.4 -11.0
Medical care...... .2 .3 .2 .2 .3 .4 .3 4.3 2.8
Recreation........ .4 .2 .2 .0 -.2 .0 .4 1.0 1.9
Education and
communication.. .2 .1 .2 .2 .3 .3 .2 3.3 3.6
Other goods and
services....... .2 .2 .3 .0 .0 .3 .2 2.0 3.2
Special indexes:
Energy............ -2.0 -1.0 -7.8 -16.9 -9.3 1.7 3.3 -17.4 -18.5
Food.............. .6 .5 .4 .2 .0 .1 -.1 .0 4.8
All items less
food and energy .2 .1 .0 .1 .0 .2 .2 1.5 1.8

Look out guys, massive inflation of .2%. For those of you who don't know, inflation of 2-3% is considered healthy here in America. The British Treasury (or whatever it's called) has to write an "Oops We Done Fucked Up" letter if inflation hits 3.1% over there.

IMF on the current risk of deflation and the costs it imposes, from Jan 09:

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2009/spn0901.pdf

[Mordrak]

wat? When did I become The News?

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm


The sad fact is at times, you're better than "The News."

[rhinohelix]

But THIS? This IS a joke. It's a vague list of hot button Republican issues without any substantive contribution to the budget.

You mean its exactly like the stimulus bill? Gotcha.

[Eric T Cheng]

This is almost, but not quite as funny as their budget. (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017479.php) OMG PASS MOAR SOCIALISMISMISMSISM?!!?!

Should bureaucrats in Washington, DC be in charge of making your health care choices instead of you and your doctor?

Err...what? Under Canada's universal healthcare system the government (in our case, the individual provincial governments) doesn't interfere with you or your doctor. The government doesn't tell you which doctors you can see or not see. The government doesn't tell your doctor what procedures you can't take because of costs. The government is just runs the health insurance plan (here in BC, I pay $55/month as a single person, whereas it's $100/month for a married couple... the cost is picked up by your employer).

I don't get why people arguing against universal healthcare thinks that a government run health insurance is inefficient. My doctor's office only swiped my health card once to get my "account" info and they electronically bill the government everytime I have an appointment (the goverment pays a flat rate per patient seen at a GP doctor).

[Joe M.]

I don't get why people arguing against universal healthcare thinks that a government run health insurance is inefficient.

You really don't understand how much money is invested in misinforming the American public about universal healthcare.

[Andrew Mayer]

That's not cognitive dissonance. In fact, I'd say "That can't possibly be real, right?" is a very rational response. A mistaken one, as it happens, but rational.

I'm not intending a put down here. It really is amazing that a major party is creating something so stupid that people want to deny it's possible. That is the very definition of cognitive dissonance...

[Grifman]

I'd love to hear an explanation on how Obama's debt plans are going to result in worse inflation than the Civil War (http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us) (75% inflation over 5 years for the union).

In return, I'd love to hear an explanation as to why the circumstances during the Civil War is relevant to today's situation.

[Qmanol]

In return, I'd love to hear an explanation as to why the circumstances during the Civil War is relevant to today's situation.

If you read the thread, instead of going through looking for things to call gotcha on, you might actually figure it out yourself!

Nah, you're too disingenuous to do that. Let's help you out.

Statement:
This country is likely facing the worst inflationary cycle we've seen in the history of this country...

Response:
I'd love to hear an explanation on how Obama's debt plans are going to result in worse inflation than the Civil War (75% inflation over 5 years for the union).

See how easy that was?

Now, to be fair, Jason's remark is also a kind of a snarky gotcha comment. But at least it has a real purpose in deflating/requiring justification for a bit of hyperbole. Yours is just taking a remark out of context for snark.

[Robert Sharp]

Robert, take a deep breath. We're not turning into zimbabwe. What recent move makes you think we are? I don't know why you expect anything different from republicans since they've been this way since the mid 90s at least and likely the 80s when Reagan took their brains away.

Heh. Yeah, I was overstating it. I don't sit around worrying about this all the time or fearing the worst worst. I just meant that nothing done so far has reassured me that we are spending all this money in a helpful way. Actually, I take that back. At least one move did result in some DOW recovery.

[Jason McCullough]

In return, I'd love to hear an explanation as to why the circumstances during the Civil War is relevant to today's situation.

I'm just being snarky, he claimed "the worst inflationary cycle we've seen in the history of this country". So it's got to beat the union inflation in the civil war - the confederate inflation was much worse, but they were TRAITORS so that doesn't count. Looking closer WWI (ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt) was actually worse though - 88% or so for 1915 to 1919.

Inflation's a final outcome, but as part of the cause you'd expect the debt/GDP ratio to skyrocket first before we inflate it away. It's gone up an awful lot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt) but we're only back to 1960 levels.

[Matthew Gallant]

In return, I'd love to hear an explanation as to why the circumstances during the Civil War is relevant to today's situation.
Because it is real Americans vs. Socialism, just like it was back then. And the Socialists will win again, just like last time.

CONSARNIT!

[Aeon221]

Heh. Yeah, I was overstating it. I don't sit around worrying about this all the time or fearing the worst worst. I just meant that nothing done so far has reassured me that we are spending all this money in a helpful way. Actually, I take that back. At least one move did result in some DOW recovery.

So long as the money is spent, there's not much significance as to how it's spent. There are some persuasive arguments about spending modifiers, but no one has produced a set of universally agreed upon numbers. So, really, the government should just focus on hoovering up the capital of risk averse savers and spend it on stuff that seems like it could be cool in the future. Like solar power plants and highways and, uh, distressed securities. Whatever. One way or another the money finds itself in the hands of people willing to spend it on useful stuff, like food or clothing or investment in capacity or, heaven forbid, Nintendo Wiis. And after being spent a few times, most of it'll end up in a savings account in a bank where it'll raise their capital reserves and bring us that much closer to getting out of this mess.

The important thing is getting the money rolling again (in monetarist terms, increasing the velocity of capital and thereby raising the total supply of money), rather than just sitting in the hands of people or banks who aren't willing to put it to productive uses.

[BlueJackalope]

Even some in the GOP leadership were unhappy with the magic flow chart. (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20633.html)


Tensions within Republican leadership came to a head late last week in a tactical spat between Cantor and Republican Conference Committee Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.). The two split over Pence’s plan to put out an abbreviated budget “blueprint” on Thursday to respond to Obama’s claims that the GOP had no alternatives.

Cantor, according to House Republican staffers, wanted to wait until Ryan, the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, produced a more detailed budget alternative with dollar estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

In the end, Boehner backed Pence — and the GOP leadership gathered for its press conference. The leaders were widely mocked for handing out a sketchy 19-page document short on details. Cantor slipped out of the press conference early but joined the other leaders in a closed-door meeting afterward to sort out their differences and present a united public front.

[tiohn]

You don't fuck with the man who theorized transfinite numbers and later went crazy and died in an institution!

Oh, wait.

[RSofaer]

You don't fuck with the man who theorized transfinite numbers and later went crazy and died in an institution!

Oh, wait.

Hehe, that would totally make me a Republican.

[Anti-Bunny]

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncanblack/repub.jpg


My favorite part is the last step: :) :D :|

[jpinard]

I think the republicans have a real opportunity to turn themselves into the party of trust busting again. A big part of the problem is the size of these companies. That's the only reasonable counter position to Obama's plan. Put the regulations back in place and break these companies back up.

It's one I could support.

Irony... irony. The Republicans are the primary reason we're in the mess. De-regulation and you can thank Phil Gramm for the roll-back on legislation that protected us from another Depression. So yea, at this point the Republicans would have to be an an entirely different party to do what you suggest.

[Angie Gallant]

Here is the full House GOP budget proposal. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/gop-budget-plan-assumes-a_n_181779.html) Appropriate that it comes out on April Fool's.

[croman]

In other words, Republicans are assuming that given the choice between a higher rate and a lower rate, Americans will choose the higher rate.

Say what? Am I, or the reporter, reading this wrong? To go along with this, there's of course all the other republican tax cut ideas we've all heard before ( business tax to 25, kill inheritance tax, cut capitol gains, etc..) . It makes no sense, to avoid a deficit republicans would have to cut the budget like Crazy or assume a Crazy amount of growth ( already read that the republicans want to dismantle Medicare for people under 55).

Plus, do they really think that a 5 year spending freeze is a good idea during a deep recession? Bloody Hell.

Can't remember where I read it, but someone said it's unfair to call the new republican party a bunch of Hooverites.... even Hoover wasn't this stupid.

[Funkula]

This is awesome. Reminds me of that desperately optimistic PS3 sales projection (which I can't seem to locate at the moment).

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/711/paul2520ryan2520budget.gif (http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=paul2520ryan2520budget.gif)

Apparently they have reliable information that the Democrats of 2030 will completely lose their shit. Also, the Democratic numbers end in 2060, because that's when America will cease to exist if their 2009 budget is approved.

[Mordrak]

I love the funky scale they give the graph to misrepresent the shifts prior to the democratic take over the congress.

[croman]

Funny thing about that graph... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/gop-bashes-obama-budget-w_n_181916.html)

Edit: Alternate article. (http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/where_ryans_crazy_graph_came_from.php)

[Angie Gallant]

Say what? Am I, or the reporter, reading this wrong?

Read page 32. They want people to choose what rate they are taxed at and allow them to change the rate once anytime they want, and any time there is a death, marriage, or divorce.

[Lorini]

Funny thing about that graph... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/gop-bashes-obama-budget-w_n_181916.html)

So the blue line is the Republican budget during Bush's time? Amazing.

[Jason McCullough]

I do wonder exactly how silly they're going to get.

Also, they forgot to adjust for the invention of warp drive (http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/04/budgeting_for_the_very_long_run.php).

Josh Marshall comments:

This is the scoring the House Republicans have provided, tracking Democratic budget policy and theirs over the next 70 years. As you can see, predicting ideological stances over as yet unborn Democratic members of Congress, the GOP scoring appears to have us on track for the government owning about 90% of the economy in the early-mid-22nd second, which if I remember is about the time period of the invention of the warp drive. So I don’t know if they’ve figured that in too.

Fortunately, this is my area of expertise. Thus, we can say conclusively that Marshall has this wrong. According to the Gene Roddenberry Budget Office, Zephram Cochrane is projected to develop warp drive in the mid-21st century and the Phoenix will become the first manned human spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light on April 5, 2063. Indeed, it’s probably no coincidence that this is about when Ryan stops doing Obama projections altogether because First Contact with the Vulcans creates a lot of hard-to-project immigration issues.

[WarrenM]

My favorite part is the last step: :) :D :|

It really is gold. It looks like we arrive at the last step and everyone bursts into laughter.

[Jazar]

This is awesome. Reminds me of that desperately optimistic PS3 sales projection (which I can't seem to locate at the moment).

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/711/paul2520ryan2520budget.gif (http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=paul2520ryan2520budget.gif)


http://i43.tinypic.com/j6q3ro.gif

[Funkula]

That's the one. Got a link to the actual graph?

[Calistas]

Leadership!

"We'll do things! And they'll be good! And it won't even be that hard, we promise! Just go with it!"

Has anyone here *not* had a boss who, at some point, basically said the above?

Yes, and got a job offer at Codemasters on the day I was made redundant. Thank god for good Spidey Senses.

[Calistas]

Should bureaucrats in Washington, DC be in charge of making your health care choices instead of you and your doctor?

Yes - you'll live longer. At least, that's the case in NZ :)

(based on averages. And just for the lulz)

[ceolstan]

Should bureaucrats in Washington, DC be in charge of making your health care choices instead of you and your doctor?
Yes, and based on Wikipedia's life expectancy chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy).

[EvoEco]

Yes, and based on Wikipedia's life expectancy chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy).

According to Wikipedia and uncontrolled editing, U.S. male life expectancy at birth is 105.63 years! Guess I should start socking away more in the 401(k).