There is talk of closing the Congressional barber shop. That's a start to what should never have happened in the first place. They have graced themselves with a handsome salary then give themselves perks so they don't have to spend it. They pass laws that cost us taxpayers and exempt themselves. They profit from insider information and leave Congress with a feathered nest egg and a golden parachute. We should demand their perks and stipends be gone over, not with a scalpel or cleaver but with a splitting maul.

The governor of Md. uses what is called StateStat. A tremendous amount of time that could be spent dealing with the "numbers served" is now being taken up to feed the StateStat monster. Our databases are now coupled with programs that make the collection of information more streamlined. As a result, unless we have entered the required info into the database, we haven't done it. The time spent at the keyboard is time deducted from the time we used to spend with the "numbers served". As you said, it's not about the outcome, it's about the political facade.

We are a capitalist society. You won't find anybody, even politicians, who will destroy our way of life for nothing.

....in the south of France for two weeks for the same money the wife was charged for 5 days in an intensive care ward.

The wife has had a couple hospital stays over the last year. We get a statement from the insurance company saying what was billed and what was paid. The Dr.'s bill twice or more to get what appears to be a reasonable compensation. (Ex: bill $300, get $100) The bill from the hospital is not broken down, it lists a couple of categories and how much was paid. If you want to know just what the hospital billed for you have to request a line by line statement from them. I haven't bothered because there is no recourse unless you want to hire an accountant and a lawyer to contest it. Nevertheless, the hospital bills always dwarf the physicians fees, lab fees, and medications. After looking at the last bill, I could have vacationed with Moochelle..

There isn't enough money in the world to satiate the Dems desire to save humanity from itself. Dems have been buttering up the electorate since 1964 and the past 5 years there has been a push to draw in as many of the disenfranchised as possible with the expasion of food stamps, unemployment benefits, and a rise in SSDI enrollees. Throw a little free health care in there and you have a recipe that is almost irresistable for those who find independence a bit more than they care to deal with. Couple that with a Rep party that feels limiting, as opposed to stopping, the size and scope of gov't and you come up with the facade of a political difference without a measurable distinction.

Seawolf, a person only needs to remember two statements. One made by BO where he said "at some point, you've got enough money", to paraphrase. The other is Feinstein asking Sen. Cruz, "just how many kinds of guns to Americans need, anyway?" or something to that effect. That's enough to convince anyone with a brain that these progs come from Bizzaro world where the people don't limit the government, the government limits the people. It appears the gov't has already succeeded in limiting about 50% of the people's ability to think for themselves.

The placard on BO's desk says, "Ain't no buck stopping here".

Don't be surprised when our honorable "leaders" come up with another "comprehensive reform" of these programs. Much like the behemoth Affordable Car Act, it will guarantee "sustainability", be all inclusive, and insure a comfortable life for every citizen until death. The CBO will "score" the measure, based on 10 year projections, to make the cost palatable. What they won't tell you is the price you pay in personal liberty to engage in such a benevolent program.

I agree ADJ. Once a newly elected politician gets a look at the underbelly of the beast known as federal expenditures, they soon realize the futility of changing what generations of voters have come to rely on as entitlements. The can gets kicked down the road to avert an insurrection that would come about as a result of telling nearly 50% of the populace the federal gov't can't afford to support you any longer. Hence, we get the dog and pony show that has now become standard procedure for exhibiting fiscal responsibility by politicians. Ten year "projections" have been as successful as the communist five year plans.

What I find truly amazing is how far the $85 billion the gov't isn't getting was going to go. If that $85 billion was funding that much gov't activity, how come they need over $3 trillion? Fuzzy math, indeed.