BUSH SAYS "JUST DO WITHOUT"

Remember Nike's "Just Do It" campaign? Well, it seems President Bush has adopted the saying as part of his platform, but changed it a little - "Just Do Without!" That's the message I got last night watching the third and final debate.

When asked what his reaction was to the shortage of flu vaccine for the coming winter, Bush's response was for younger, healthier people to "just do without" a flu shot. Kerry, on the other hand, took his response as an opportunity to attack Bush's lack of a plan to provide comprehensive healthcare for our country, pointing out that we are the only industrialized nation without one.

And when Bush was asked what does he say to the person who has just lost his job to outsourcing, his response was that we're going to help that person with an educational benefit. Last time I checked, an education voucher won't pay your light bill or feed your family. So, in my opinion, he flunked that one too. Kerry went on to capitalize on Bush's failure by pointing out that while more and more jobs are being outsourced, the current administration has cut funding on job training programs and failed to extend or expand unemployment and medicaid benefits. Additionally, when Bush pointed out that more people were getting Pell grants, it only highlighted the fact that there are more Pell grants because more people don't have jobs, so more people qualify. He failed to mention that actual grant amounts have been reduced to allow for the additional eligible applicants.

So, what are we supposed to do? If Bush gets re-elected, I guess we'll have to "just do without."