If at all you've been paying attention to the healthcare debate, you probably came across conservative whining soon after Speaker Pelosi released H.R. 3962. The conservative circle was referring to a blog on Politico by Jonathan Allen attempting to explain the aesthetics of the bill. Mr. Allen reported that the bill is 1990 pages long, running approximately 400,000 words. Further, he pointed to the estimated cost over 10 years of $894 billion and concluded in a rather unorthodox fashion that the bill costs $2.2 million per word!

"Shocking! Outrageous!" screamed the rank and file GOP, Minority Leader Boehner went as far as theatrically exhibiting what 1990 pages of legislation looks like when stacked up. There's even a new militaristic analysis being floated pointing to how long it would take a supersonic military jet to release a linear roll of dollar bills equivalent to $1.0 trillion while flying at the speed of sound: an impressive 14.4 years! Absolutely unbelievable, right?

Except, is the length of the bill really an issue? Did anyone bother to check the text and format of the bill? How does H.R. 3962 stack compared to other bills/Joint Resolutions/Laws passed or enacted in Congress?

Motivated by this seemingly juvenile use of statistics, I checked a few key bills and resolutions passed by Congress from The Thomas Jefferson Library of Congress.

First up was Public Law 108-173, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. P.L. 108-173 is 489 pages long, contains 175,903 words and is projected to cost $1.2 trillion. Applying what I will henceforth call, 'The JA Standard," the cost per word is $6.8 million. In case you have forgotten, this was the law that was controversially passed by a Republican Controlled Congress that is now famously known for duping the tax payer!

Then, there's H.J. Res 114, To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq. The Joint Resolution was only 5 pages long carrying 395 words. The cost of the war in Iraq thus far is estimated at $696 billion which by The JA Standard costs $352 million per word and still rising! Go figure.

Speaking of length in pages, this is one measure where I lay the blame squarely on the idiots formatting the document. As stated above, H.R 3962 contains about 400000 words in 1990 pages which is 200 words per page. P.L. 108-173, on the other hand, contains 175,903 words in 489 pages which is about 360 words per page. If H.R 3962 was to be formatted in the same style as P.L. 108-173, it would only contain roughly 1110 pages!!!!

As it turns out, the democrats don't quite have a spending problem, but are rather squarely sitting on a presentation problem. Republicans, on the other hand, are firmly rooted to ... you guessed it: Ignorance and at times convenient self-serving interpretation of facts and statistics!

I was chatting with a friend, a devout Hillary supporter, a few hours ago and we got to talking analogies, Sidekicks and iPhones. I thought that ...

... Asking me to choose between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is like asking me to choose between a Sidekick and an iPhone. However many versions of an upgraded Sidekick you come up with, it still remains a Sidekick: vintage design, ancient and just as disappointing technology, bulky feel and plain simply, not as hip as it used to be! With an iPhone, you get the latest high tech software, the internet, video and music player all bundled up in an impressively captivating sleek and chic design. So, you can understand why I wouldn’t, quite frankly, prefer an out of fashion, politically bulky and highly divisive Hillary as opposed to this young, very charismatic, absolutely intelligent, electrifyingly unifying and promisingly hopeful Barack Obama.

In case you missed it, after Super Tuesday, Whoopi Goldberg switched her endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama to Sen. Hillary Clinton. Her rationale: the first among them to have promised a policy proposal to punish companies that outsource American jobs! You must be wondering if you are hearing me right and I guarantee you are. Whoopi’s gigantic election issue and primary concern is the time at which either of the candidates made this declaration.

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It is disgusting and quite honestly disingenuous for celebrities of Whoopi’s ilk to imagine we are as simple minded and as blatantly idiotic when they come out, attempting to base their flawed judgment on reason and principle when the supposed judgment and principle is so fatally flawed. Supporting a candidate based on the date they said something convenient to your ears rather than what their actual policy inclinations have been over the years is just simply stupid. Hold on, don’t get all worked up on me on the timing of Sen. Obama's anti-war speech because this is different.

I stumbled upon this Asia Times article highlighting Sen. Clinton’s stance on the very subject, during her India visit back in 2005.

Hillary clears outsourcing air
Hillary Clinton made it apparent where she stood on outsourcing during her India visit, in an attempt perhaps to clear the Indian misgivings received during the Kerry campaign. "There is no way to legislate against reality. Outsourcing will continue," she told an audience of Indian big-wigs. She pointed out that there were 3 billion people who feel left behind and are trying to attack the modern world in the hope of turning the clock back on globalization. "It is not far-fetched to imagine ... if the Indian miracle would be the one of choice of those who feel left behind," said Hillary.

Hillary has been at the forefront in defending free trade and outsourcing. During the height of the anti-outsourcing backlash in the US last year, she faced considerable flak for defending Indian software giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for opening a center in Buffalo, New York. "We are not against all outsourcing; we are not in favor of putting up fences," Hillary said firmly, despite inevitably invoking the ire of the anti-free trade brigade.
-- Asia Times, May 1, 2005

For the record, I am not at all against all outsourcing; I am just disgusted by celebrities babbling about without knowing what they are talking about, especially in the presence of people who somehow depend on their perspectives to make political decisions. As for the endorsement, I'm sure Sen. Obama's campaign is having cool sweet laughs at her.