Cost of health care . . . if we add the taxes we pay to the insurance premiums we pay, I wonder how that compares to the taxes Europeans pay, to cover--among other things--their health care? It's hard for me to compare, personally, because I've always had good insurance coverage--either because of my job or my wife's. She still has excellent coverage, and now I'm retired military. And I can't remember the last time I've paid a medical (or dental) bill. Both the wife and I just had biopsies (both negative, thank God) and didn't have any problems either with our family physician or the specialists involved.

Kerryman, nearly all the Democrats tend to talk a good game on guns, and they're very careful to pander to hunters. Here in Iowa, our Senator Harkin talks about not taking away guns from hunters and target shooters, but he's also on record as saying that all "Saturday night specials" (cheap handguns--but where do you draw the line?) and assault rifles ought to be put on an old rust bucket and sunk in the Atlantic. How about that--gun control and ocean pollution, in one fell swoop??