Grin and bear it

After reading and hearing some great reviews. I'm watching the "Adams" HBO series. This as I finish Ron Chernow's large volume on Alexander Hamilton. I think most of you already know this, but, just in case, I hope we can agree on this: With all their differences and faults, the Founding Fathers were a serious group. Almost to a man, they put themselves on the line and we've all benefitted from their sacrifices.

So it is with mixed feelings of amusement and dismay that I present a snip of Bloomberg's ever-astute and insightful Caroline Baum. She created a "quiz" for Congress this past week. Here tongue-in-cheek point is that they've got to pass the quiz before they create legislation to help folks hurt by the housing collapse. Here's my favorite question:

With the baby boomers starting to retire, Congress is facing big decisions on how to pay for Medicare and Social Security and what kind of benefits retirees are to receive. To solve the problem, Congress should:

a) Form a commission to look at the options and appoint Greenspan chairman.

b) Ship the old folks to France, where health care is the envy of the world, according to Princeton University economist Paul Krugman;

d) Build a wall to keep immigrants out, then tear it down to let more of them in to pay the taxes needed to support beneficiaries in the style to which they've been accustomed.

d) Pretend there's not a problem and let the next set of lawmakers worry about it.

Re-read is and you'll find kernels of truth in between the humor. Sad, isn't it? The Founding Fathers had tried for a time to avoid forming political parties. They weren't naive. But they did think that they might try forming a government without political parties. It didn't work out that way. Maybe they should have tried forming a government without politicians.