Rhubarb Report: Episode 35

Two weeks between episodes always seems like a lot of time. But as I have found, time seems to keep on ticking along, faster and faster every day. I can remember my mother telling me as a child that I should enjoy how slow time goes by when you are young, because it gets faster as you get older. Once again, Mom was right.

Each two week cycle takes us a little closer to March Madness … to summer … to a federal election. Well, I guess two out of three ain’t so bad, and you can pick the two.

It’s time for Episode 35, a time for the economics of Wall Street, the economics of the New York Knicks, and the economics of Obamacare.

1. The economy is in such horrible shape these days, isn’t it? I mean, that’s what we keep getting told by the Republican Party. It is a terrible thing to have the Dow over 13,000 for the first time since May 2008. Downright despicable. It was at about 6,000 when President Obama took the reins of the country. But no, no, no, the economy in this country is suffering under Obama. At least that’s what FOX News keeps telling me.

It doesn’t take great loads of rocket science to figure that the stock market has gone in the right direction under this administration. Was it a function of domestic policy? Go ahead and debate it. But don’t debate the numbers. The market has doubled since President Obama took office – plain and simple.

2. Jeremy Lin was lighting it up for the Knicks, until, well, Carmelo Anthony returned. Coincidence? There is a lot to be said for “team players” in a team sport. I wonder how much Lin is getting paid relative to Anthony? And I wonder what the Return On Investment has been for the Knicks over the past few weeks? Just sayin’ …

3. I actually saw this phrase in the news recently, and I had to laugh: birth-control-gate. Watergate, yes. Birth-control-gate, no. Please. Really?

Before everyone goes on a tirade about religion and insurance, please stop to consider one elemental point first and foremost: this problem doesn’t even remotely exist if insurance is not tied to your employer. If that is removed, all of this becomes a moot point. And tell me again, why is insurance tied to my employer? That question is probably along the same lines as “when is this country going to join modern civilization with a universal health care plan” – but I digress.

That isn’t an issue of Obama-care. Frankly, Obama-care is, if anything, like putting a band-aid on a massive wound – Catholic or otherwise.

Photo credits: Wikipedia