Not a Pretty Picture Painted by the Numbers
Some sickening statistical firsts

While reading today's news in the various online sources, I noted there were a few numerical milestones crossed recently. The saddest of all, of course, is the Iraq troop deaths exceeding 2,000. Most scary was that the national debt exceeding a record $8 trillion. Most disgusting is the dual records set by US oil companies: highest profits and most money spent on PR. The final first is merely a potential disaster: Republican Joe Barton's proposal to charge, for the first time, premiums and co-pays to some children living in poverty and on Medicaid. Perhaps a little effort on our part can prevent more of our littlest and weakest from losing affordable health care. Or, if you wish to look at it more practically, allowing people the opportunity to become taxpayers instead of dependents.