And the Good News Is

Women pay higher premiums for health care than men do. Although American women live substantially longer and are generally healthier than men, they never the less pay higher insurance premiums than men according to a study reported in today's New York Times.

Now you may be thinking, well, of course, they become pregnant and have babies, so that will add to the health care burden, but the study takes that factor into account. Insurance companies justify the higher premiums by arguing that women seek out more health care than men do, and thus the cost is higher. In other words, because women take better care of themselves than men do, they are penalized for their behavior by being charged more by their insurance companies.

Once upon a time, insurance was a communal method for folks to share the costs of their health care. And then it became a way for a few investors to make money off of other folks' misery.

The Cost of Higher Ed To Continue Upwards:

So what else is new? Nothing seems capable of putting the brakes on the steady increase in the cost of sending the kids to college. For years the price tag of a higher education, the universal method of improving one's lot in life, has outstripped the cost of living, as universities pile on amenities to the "club med" lifestyle known as a college education. (See today's New York Times.)

Financial aid is expected to grow, which means more loans, as state assistance decreases. In other words, parents will go deeper into debt while their kids will come out of college even more deeply in the economic hole just as the odds of them landing the job their degrees have prepared them for disappear.

Bush Administration More Socialist Than Obama:

In an effort to "share the wealth," the Bush administration is expected to set forth a plan to help millions of home owners retain their homes in these failing economic times. (See The New York Times story.) Makes you wonder how Joe the Plumber feels about this. He didn't speak out when the banks and Wall Street were being bailed out at tax payer expense, but he objected to helping his neighbors across the street.

Wanna bet that Joe will gladly take some assistance in paying his $1200 in back taxes to remove the lean on his house? But maybe he doesn't need that sort of help now. We hear he's hired an agent to help him deal with his new found celebrity.

Banks To Give Bailout Money to Stockholders as Dividends:

Just when you thought you'd heard of everything, it turns out that more than half of the $163 billion of bailout taxpayer money that the federal government plans to give to banks so that they can provide more loans will simply be given to the banks' stockholders as dividends unless the government can put the brakes on these plans. (See today's Washington Post.)

No wonder the Bush administration was so eager to do the bailout. Their bodies stand to reap billions by robbing the taxpayers, just as their failed practices have tanked the economy. And you thought the Bushies were just about oil.

Speaking of Oil:

Exxon Mobil set a new record for quarterly profits, with a 58 percent jump. (See The New York Times story.)

Never fear, economists now think we are in a recession and that it may have started as early as this past spring. Phew! I was beginning to worry about that.

The Dude makes perfect sense: "I think it's very important for the American President to mean what he says. That's why I understand that the enemy could misread what I say. That's why I try to be as clearly I can." — George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., 2004. (He speaks for you, dude. / He speaks for me, dude. / He speaks for us, dude./ All over this land!)