Congress Passes Socialized Medicine Act in 1798

[bachus]

Yup, they did!

[seraph]

archeo-communists

[Inventor]

I love it!

Les

[nobody]

This leapt out at me:

"But those were the days when members of Congress still used their collective heads to solve problems – not create them."

Also: "in those days, legislation was short, to the point and fairly easy to understand."

Legislation that is otherwise is meant to befuddle for the purpose of personal gain. My girlfriend's company, a large local research firm that contracts with the federal government, has a non-straightforward payroll scheme in which, rather than being paid 40 hours a week, or 80 hours every two weeks, employees are sometimes paid 70 hours and sometimes paid 90 hours. The schedule is laid out for each year, but it's not regular or systematic. I keep telling her it's because something fishy is up - most likely someone somewhere is skimming.

What strikes me as sad is that, presented with firm historical precedent, the people who oppose the new health care reform will do whatever mental acrobats they have to to continue rotting in their current brain grooves. They just aren't mentally adaptable people. They're like the hijacker in "Something About Mary": "Until someone comes along with 6 1/2 minute abs." "(blinks, shakes head violently) No! Seven minute abs! Seven is the magic number!"

EDIT: You know, it just occurred to me that the people I just accused of mental inflexibility actually not only have great mental dexterity, but are highly creative, as indicated by the very mental acrobats I accused them of performing. Something else is going on, various forms of psychosis.

[Antimon]

[nobody]