Before I get out of here to face the over-the-top security at our broadcast site …

During World War II there was a shortage of shoes.  A shortage of leather and of rubber for the soles.  What if employers had begun the practice of providing employees with shoes 70 years ago?  Well, removing competition from the picture would have meant that ordinary shoes today would cost hundreds of dollars, and the shoe entitlement would have spread past employers to government.  There would be a “Shod the Seniors” program for wizened citizens who were no longer employed and could no longer depend on an employer benefit.  The cost of the Shod the Seniors program would, of course, be skyrocketing.  Now --- with this scenario, what do you think the Democrats would be saying if a Republican suggested we needed to voucherize shoes for seniors  Give seniors vouchers and send them out into a competitive marketplace to buy their shoes.   You don’t have to work all that hard to wrap your imagination around this one.  Here’s your Democrat Party campaign ad:

“Republicans want Senior Citizens to go without shoes in the winter.  Republicans want senior citizens to walk barefoot across icy ground in sub-freezing temperatures so that their frozen feet will leave trails of blood.  In the winter Republicans want seniors to destroy their feet on hot pavement until they have to wrap rags around their feet just to get to the mailbox.” 

And you KNOW that’s the way it would be.