Random Thoughts for a Hot Wednesday

I'm having a bit of trouble this morning with linear thinking, so I thought I'd just throw out a few disconnected observations in an attempt to look as if I'm coherent and intellectually wide-ranging.

It's worth a shot.

Congress, in a state of exhaustion from the stress of having recklessly brought the nation to the brink of economic disaster ... and leaving critical business undone ... has adjourned for a well-earned rest. This is not a bad thing, as history shows Congress can cause far less trouble when it's not in session.

China's leading credit rating agency has downgraded the credit rating of the United States for the second time, from A+ to A. The chairman of the Dagong Global Credit Rating Company said that "The squabbling between the two political parties on raising the US debt ceiling reflected an irreversible trend on the United States' declining ability to repay its debts." I guess that will come as a surprise to all those conservatives who grandly announced that there would be no repercussions if the nation went into default.

I just heard on the news that the special "super-committee" which is supposed to identify still more cuts to the Federal budget is supposed to deliver its initial report before Thanksgiving. That will certainly give most of us something to be thankful for. I'm already planning on downsizing from turkey to Cornish game hen.

One of the drivers of the miserable state of the economy is the ever-spiraling cost of health care. It occurs to me that the problem is being approached in the wrong way: instead of worrying about how to pay for ever-increasing costs, perhaps we should figure out how to bring the costs down to where Real People can actually pay for them. I can think of two places to start ... cap jury awards for malpractice suits, and reduce administrative overhead in the provision of care. I know that there are reinforced battalions of lawyers and medical industry lobbyists who will insist that there's no way to bring costs down, but I think they're full of medical waste.

After I posted yesterday about Hell on Earth, Miss Cellania offered up this helpful guide ...

The only obvious thing missing is the room where sinners are forced to listen to right-wing talk radio 24 hours a day.

Okay, that's all for today. I did actually have a good evening yesterday, enjoying a Skype call with my grandchildren out in Ohio, so I'm actually a bit less cranky that it may sound. But only a bit.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo