The great American hot dog

Congress has me in stitches again.

First, Harry Reid comes up with this brilliant suggestion: States can "opt-out" of socialized medicine!

Great! Terrific! For a minute there, I thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Although surely Illinois would not be one of those opting-out, at least I could stay in the USA instead of migrating to Honduras.

Except that, as it turns out, what Reid means is, states can "opt-out" of receiving any benefits from socialized medicine. Of course, they still have to pay into the system.

I bet all the liberals in the senate are cheering for that one. If they get five or six states to "opt-out" of receiving benefits while those same five or six states continue to pay the crushing tax burden, they just might be able to balance their books.... I don't know, it may be a squeaker.... let's take out the calculator...

Yup! See! 100% deficit neutral!! Just create a different group of 30 million uninsured. Which is pretty much what they've already proposed, by robbing the Medicare fund to provide coverage for 18-year-olds.

Then, leave it up to Pazzo Pelosi for the real kicker. She suggests that if "public option" is an idea that the public rejects, why not just rename it the "consumer option"?

Why not just rename it "The Great American Hot Dog" or "I love Mama"?

No one would reject those. After all, it's not like there's any real idea attached to the words, huh, Pazzo? And heaven knows, Pazzo seems to be operating on the principle that the American public can't possibly be as stupid as she is -- and she's probably be right about that.

See, this socialized medicine scheme is all just a marketing problem. But ya know what? I've worked in and around marketing and advertising for more than 30 years. One thing is true: If your product sucks, no matter what you call it, your product still sucks.

Even if you try to build it up with public relations and all that and you do get a few people to try it out, you only create a bigger mess, because the product still sucks. All you're doing is generating a lot of unhappy customers, who will tell their friends, who will tell their friends, who will..... you get the idea.

But man, these guys are coming up with some real screamers. It must be a real hoot, working in congress. They must laugh all day.