Gary Rust

Worth noting: God's cake, obeying the law, TennCare:

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation.

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely, Mom, I love your cake." "Here, have some cooking oil," her mother offers. "Yuck!" says her daughter.

"How about a couple raw eggs?"

"Gross, Mom!"

"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!" To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake. God works the same way. Many times we wonder why he would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when he puts these things all in his order, they always work for good. We just have to trust him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful. God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance."

-- E-mail from the Internet

* The law is the law -- so be it: So if the U.S. government determines that it is against the law for the words "under God" to be in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our money, then so be it.

And if that same government decides that the Ten Commandments are not to be used in or on a government installation, then so be it.

And since the government already has prohibited any prayer in the schools, on which it deems its authority, then so be it.

I say "so be it" because I would like to be a law-abiding U.S. citizen. I say "so be it" because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions. I would like to think that those people have the best interest of the American public at heart.

But you know what else I'd like? Since we can't pray to God, can't trust in God and cannot post his commandments in government buildings, I don't believe the government and its employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.

I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter. After all, it's just another day.

I'd like the U.S. Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it's just another day.

I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives not to have to worry about getting home for the Christmas break. After all, it's just another day.

I'm thinking that a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved if all government offices and services would work on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter.

It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be politically correct.

In fact, I think our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshiping God) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day.

What do you all think? If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving-in to the minority opinions and begin, once again, to represent the majority of all of the American people.

So be it.

-- Horace Hooper

* HillaryCare in Tennessee: We think it was Justice Brandeis who said the states should be laboratories for reform. Regarding health care, Tennessee tried a decade ago and the price is now coming due. Hillary Rodham Clinton should call her pollster if she plans on carrying the state in 2008.

In 1994, Tennessee passed what was then a very hot New Democrat idea -- call it government managed care-a version of the reform the former first lady was also pitching nationwide. TennCare promised the impossible dream of politicians everywhere: Lower health-care costs while covering more of the "uninsured." They got the impossible, all right. After 10 years of mismanagement and lawsuits, TennCare now eats up one-third of the state's entire budget and is growing fast. Governor Phil Bredesen, A Democrat, is preparing to pull the plug and return the state to the less lunatic subsidies of Medicaid.

The TennCare concept was for the state to operate like an HMO, providing health insurance to those who needed it and paying the premiums for those who couldn't afford it.

The idea was even sold as a cost savings because it would provide "managed care" (volume discounts, preventative care, etc.). TennCare opened enrollment to hundreds of thousands of people who did not qualify for Medicaid, even to some six-figure earners. Costs quickly exploded, and despite attempts to tighten eligibility rules the program still covers 1.3 million of the state's 5.8 million people.

The skyrocketing costs led previous Governor Don Sundquist, the Republican who had inherited the program, to try to impose a state income tax. His efforts failed, fortunately, but in 2002 Mr. Bredesen was elected promising to cut TennCare's costs.

That, too, has been impossible. Left-wing legal activists have sued the state with impunity to underwrite the cost of nearly unlimited care.

A Nashville non-profit called the Tennessee Justice Center has hamstrung reforms for years by suing to enforce a series of consent decrees, some of which predate TennCare.

Prescription drug costs alone increased 23 percent last year, as there are effectively no limits on the number or types of drugs the system will pay for. If a doctor prescribes aspirin, TennCare pays for it. Ditto for antacids for heartburn and other over-the-counter products. If TennCare denies a claim for a drug or any other type if care, an appeal can be filed for next to nothing. Fighting each appeal costs the state as much as $1,600 in legal fees. With 10,000 appeals filed every month, it's often easier and cheaper to pay a claim, regardless of the merits.

TennCare is now in worse shape than it was a decade ago. Three of the 11 privately run Managed Care Organizations that insured TennCare patients and administered the program have fallen into receivership.

Amid the legal wrangling, Blue Cross Blue Shield all but pulled out of the program. Today the state has assumed all the insurance risk and pays most of the premiums.

Mr. Bredesen has proposed numerous reforms to reduce costs by limiting care, and the legislature overwhelmingly endorsed them earlier this year.

But they sit in limbo while the Governor negotiates with the Tennessee Justice Center to end its lawsuits. With the talks at an impasse, Mr. Bredesen has instructed state officials to start thinking about dismantling TennCare.

"It makes no sense for one facet of our responsibilities -- health care -- to be able to come to the table first and eat and drink all it wants, and then if there is anything left over, we then can consider our other responsibilities," he told the Tennessee School Board Association recently.

Good for Mr. Bredesen for recognizing that the entitlement mentality inevitably leads to fiscal perdition.

Has he told Mrs. Clinton, not to mention certain Republicans in Washington?

-- The Wall Street Journal

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.