Fred: Everyone in the Pool

The feeling is mutual, Bruce, I enjoy it too!

To pick up only on the insurance analogy: as a civilized society, we should simply consider everyone in the country as our insurance "pool" for health care. Unlike with home ownership, we mostly don't have a choice in whether we have good health or injuries or not. As we all know, the poor health of some can be positively dangerous to the rest of us, too, and can be a drag on the productivity of the economy as a whole. We don't want the grievously/dangerously ill roaming our streets and dying there. So make everyone in the country one health insurance pool and provide at least good basic care for everyone. Yes, it will be some redistribution of assets, but worth it in my view. And it would lower overall health care costs by eliminating the 30% or so that now goes to the "insurance overhead"--the amount insurance companies spend trying to avoid paying the claims you file. More anon!

Best, -Fred