Oprah's Newest Favorite Thing

Well, after several months of teetering, Oprah has officially come out and said she'll be campaigning for Obama. Is anyone really shocked by this? In the ongoing search for things being RATIONAL, I had to ask myself why she did this and so far this is what I've managed to come up with.

• "Barack Obama understands that in order to have a great America diversity is necessary...I believe in him. I trust him."
• They both currently call Illinois home
• They are both African Americans
• He looks a bit like a young Steadman (joking!)

So, after searching online, the above is what I came up with. Basicially, she says she trusts him and believes in him but offers no specifics as to why. Taxes, immigration, the war, the economy, foreign affairs? It's this kind of celebrity attempts at king-making that drive me nuts. We don't know WHY she has decided to place her trust in Obama but now we'll likely hear from her on TV, in magazines and at rallies that WE should also trust him. Is this in any way RATIONAL?

Give me specifics on why we should trust him to resolve the issues of this country so I can then make a decision on good information. Unlike a lot of people in this country, just because Oprah has a new favorite thing I don't follow blindly.

Health Care - 1st Step Toward Universal Health Care?

Having spent much of this year dealing with the health care issues of my wife and son, I've become much more attuned to the headaches and financial costs associated with the current health care system. I work for a company that offers pretty good benefits, health care included. However, each year the costs to the company go up 10% or so, and if anyone is familiar with the impact of "compounding", at some point when expenses go up by this much year after year the result is substantial changes.

So, 2008 is the year of substantial change for my firm. We're moving to a high-deductible plan in combination with a Health Savings Account (HSA). Therefore, I now have the "luxury" of paying slightly less in monthly premiums but covering 100% the first $5,000 of the costs. Only after I've spent $5,000 will the plan start to contribute and eventually I'll have no out of pocket cost. So, if I have another catastrophic year in 2008, at some point the plan covers 100%.

Thankfully, I make enough and have a January bonus from which I'll be able to fully fund my HSA. However, if I were a lower-salary employee with children I'd be panicked at the moment. Taking what I think is a RATIONAL view of such a situation, as this move to high-deductible + HSA model spreads, I believe that politicians will find more traction for Universal Health Care. Hillary may well have been ahead of the curve back in the 1990's. Time will tell.

More on Fred

A good article in today's New York Times discusses Fred's courting of the gun rights conservatives. Is it just me, or did the NRA-type of folks hit their peak 10 years ago? With all going on in this country and in the world, this speaks to me as a waste of time on Fred's part.

Full disclosure: I'm a southerner, I lean to the right, I'm in my 40's and I don't hunt or feel the need to own a gun. That being said, I think individuals in this country have the right to own firearms.

Given the time and place, I don't see this as an issue at all. Are there really that many people who 1) base their vote on gun rights and 2) who feel that anyone is serious about taking away their guns?

RATIONAL comments please!

Fred Thompson-My Fellow Tennessean

Unless I'm missing something, Fred has no likelihood of going anywhere in this election season. I'd love a reason to vote for him, but supporting a fellow Tennessean isn't reason enough. (See 2000 Election and Albert Gore). Fred seems to be a nice guy who has found success at everything he's taken on, but his Hollywood and Watergate "star power" doesn't seem to translate into this election. I had high hopes for him even as he strung me along on his decision to declare, but he hasn't found any traction with me (or apparently anyone else for that matter).

Get with it Fred......Be RATIONAL!

Hillary

I've been away for a while dealing with family health issues. I've discovered I'm a high-earner who makes to much to qualify for any assistance but who can't make ends meet! Just wanted to whine a bit. That being said......

Great article in the Friday Wall Street Journal about the balancing act that Hillary is trying to walk. Her fellow Dems are trying to force her to answer questions about the issues and she's having to try and answer in a two-fold way.....1) what do the Dems expect and want her to say or 2) what answer will help her in the general election. If she responds to number 1, then she knows the Repubs will use that answer against her. If she answers to number 2) then her fellow Dems and the Dem voters will hammer her. She's trying to learn from Bill by answering out of both sides of her mouth, but she isn't Bill! The 3 or 4 "debates" in December should be very entertaining!

Pandering for no good reason

Saw a blurb on Romney this morning. For some reason, he felt the need to hold himself out as a long-time hunter when the quick response in the news media (24 hour scruitny hits again!) that he'd been hunting once as a kid and once recently in Georgia, has never held a hunting license and owns no rifles. I'm sure this will be the first of many "panders" across all candidates and parties so I guess I shouldn't be amazed.

Kerry redux?

One of the funniest things during the last Presidential election was the "I voted for the war before I voted against it". Will we see such waffling this go around? I'm starting to see we might on the Dems side of things with Hillary but I suppose time will tell.

That brings to mind another idea....like Bush or hate Bush (may be more of the later), I have to admire the guy for not waffling. He may have made bad decisions on bad assumptions or beliefs, but at least the guy is consistent. That being said, I'd like to see someone in the office who is consistent on GOOD decisions based on GOOD assumptions. Is that possible in today's 24-hour information microscope that is today's political system? I doubt it. However, when I believe what someone says and their actions back up their statements, I certainly have much more confidence in him/her.

Common Sense

I don't know how long this blog will last but I hope to stimulate some conversation over the next 18 months.

I'm amazed at the lack of common sense often shown by both Republicans and Democrats. As an example, Rudy doesn't show most of the typical views that Republicans look for in a candidate. He's done a fantastic job of leveraging "American's Mayor" status to keep the focus off of everything else he's said in the past. Likewise, Democrats seem to take a face value what many of their candidats are saying at a specific point in time and ignore the history of their actions. Amazing no?