Friday Follies: What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander

I sometimes sit here scratching my head during the week wondering what I am going to use for my Friday Follies editions. I want them to be funny, as that is sort of implied in the title, but I also want them to have a point, something that all of my dear reader can take away and ponder over the weekend. Some weeks I have to search frantically hither and yon for my topic, other times the words just spring lightly off the keyboard and onto the page. But largely all I have to do is scan the weekly headlines where there is bound to be some sort of hijinks or shenanigans going on either in Hollyweird or D.C. that appeals to my twisted sense of humour. This is one of those weeks.

In Minnesota a republican state senator introduced a bill "reforming" the state's health care system by kicking 15,000 poor folk off the rolls and instead of giving them actual health care, give them 'vouchers' to go and buy insurance for themselves. This republican modern-day Scrooge then went on to tout how much money it would save the state, how it would get government out of health care, and how it would give poor folk more options for their health care. In other words textbook Ayn Rand bullshit.

A Democratic state senator decided she liked what she heard so much she offered her own amendment to the bill which suggested that before putting the plan into action for the general public, they should enact it for all state legislators to make sure the programme worked the way it is supposed to. Apparently the amendment was met with stunned silence from the chamber. Not surprisingly the most vociferous opposition came from the 'free market' loving republicans who, it turns out, only believe the 'free market' is a good idea when applied to the poor.

The amendment was voted down and the bill eventually passed along party lines, and it is expected to be vetoed by the Minnesota governor, but it is refreshing to see a Democrat stand up and call these assholes out on their bullshit. The Democratic Senator from MN, Al Franken, seconded a similar proposal in the Senate in D.C., not sure what they're drinking up in Minnesota, but this spine-reinforcing elixir needs to be bottled and given to the DNC....

Cheers!