Foot-in-mouth disease strikes another unpaid adviser

Not that long ago, Phil Gramm, a close personal friend and unpaid economic adviser to Jhn McCain, caused quite a flap by suggesting that the only recession around was a "mental recession" and referring to the U.S. as a "nation of whiners" -- he subsequently tried to claim that he was referring only to U.S. leaders, but the actual quotation in context showed he was saying nothing of the sort. He was repudiated by McCain, relieved of his unpaid duties, and slunk off (for a while -- he showed up with McCain a few weeks later).

Now another unpaid economic adviser is making news in similar fashion. A story from The Dallas Morning News has quotes from John Goodman that have to be making John McCain hope that everybody forgets all about them, what with Obama's speech and McCain choosing a member of Monty Python as his running mate (what's that? Oh, Sarah Palin). But I'd be looking for Obama-Biden to be making sure that people hear about this take on health insurance from a guy advising McCain on health policy.

clipped from www.dallasnews.com Texas once again led the nation with the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, a U.S. Census Bureau report showed Tuesday But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.) "So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care. "So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."