Michael,

Sorry about wringing you out for so much insight on the EU. I think we all had a backlog of questions as the reporting on the EU over here is somewhat limited.

I hope you are right about the EU's intentions. I don't fear a powerful and influential Europe, as long as their goals are as you suggest. So far the outward appearance from my point of view has been otherwise, but I'm willing to keep an open mind about the the whole thing. It's nice to hear you mention our common roots; that seems to be overlooked too often these days. You're also right about us mixing up the topics here a bit to include non-EU subjects. In that spirit...

Tom, I hope you were wrong about GW continuing his spending spree as well. I've given this a lot of thought, and it just doesn't seem to make sense that an administration that has shown considerable political savvy up to this point would continue to pour money into social programs after securing a second term. Stranger things have happened, though.

Just as an FYI for Michael, you'll probably never hear Tom, Kerry or myself complain about defense spending during a time of war or otherwise. It's the wealth redistribution nonsense that gets us in a froth.

I thought I'd mention that I got the book "The Quest for Cosmic Justice" by Thomas Sowell for Christmas this year. I'm only about a third of the way through it, but it's an amazing piece of work. A definite must read for anyone with a remote interest in politics, economics, or sociology in general.