Once you've read that article, I want you to tell me what's new. Except for the invasion of Iraq and the horrible economy, aren't we dealing with the same old subjects? Social Security, pension reform, minimum wage, education, Medicare, the environment, and child care. OK, so maybe there's prescription drugs for the elderly now, but aren't these the same subjects we can expect President Bush to gloss over tomorrow night?

What has the government accomplished in the last four years? Have they solved anything? And aren't you getting just a little bit disgusted with hearing the same old problems over and over and over without resolution? When do you lose hope and join the ranks of the majority who don't vote anymore?

Are we waiting for children to grow up, get a lousy education, and then solve Medicare's prescription drug problem? Why did we put these people in office and aren't most of them the same Congress critters that were there in 1998, even 1988? Isn't it obvious that they spend most of their time and energy getting re-elected?

Don't you begin to wonder what we need a federal government for in the first place? We could hire and set up companies to solve these problems in no time just so long as we stayed away from Enron and WorldCom executive types.

Better yet, how about holding a national lottery? Draw names to serve in Congress for two years? Draft a legislator. No polls. No voting. No second terms. No wasted money. No time to learn crooked ways. No indistinguishable parties ignoring their consciences. What have we got to lose?

We would probably get people who would live by the oath they take to uphold the Constitution. By itself, that's a vast improvement. Every man and woman over thirty and without a criminal record would have the chance to serve his or her country, be all that they can be, maybe even win the powerball shot for President. They would even be forced to learn how our republic works and become better citizens.

At any rate, we could probably go back to 1989 and find George's father talking about the same great goals of his administration. Nixon and Carter probably said the same thing in their State of the Union addresses and campaign speeches.

Is there anyone in their right mind who truly believes the government is going to fix Social Security's so-called problem? Maybe someone who still believes in the tooth fairy or that "76 million baby-boomers" are looming on the horizon and about to crush the system. We didn't fix the roof while the sun was shining. What makes you believe the government will fix it while rain and snow are pouring in?

I hear that George is going to mention his half-assed "personal accounts" program again. The one where he gives up a few measly dollars out of the $89 billion surplus Social Security brought in for the government to enjoy last year and puts that table scrap for young entry level workers into an imitation of the Thrift Savings Account his father started for federal employees back in 1987. The account that's reaping pension money hand over fist for George and his cohorts to enjoy when they retire, as if they needed it.

While you're listening to the pep rally tomorrow night, just remember that your regulatory government could have stimulated the economy ages ago by simply reducing payroll taxes and letting working Americans keep some of their hard earned money. But then, we wouldn't have a phony trust fund accounting for 21 percent of the national debt and holding $1.4 trillion in bogus bonds for you and your children to redeem someday.

In between the talk of war and terrorists, you might also notice that George the terrible will make no mention of the $600 billion he's run up the national debt in the last fifteen months. The sort of subject that once bothered republicans when they thought they had a "contract with America" in their pockets. Today, it's a democratic issue. Oh well.