May I suggest that persons on the list limit themselves to one off-topic
post per day so as not to overwhelm the list?  I know this is difficult on
such hot-button topics, but the quality of posts would be higher if you take
the time to make sure your one post counts.

You could combine several points in one email, though.  For example:

On the question of whether we should pay down the debt before giving a tax
cut:  one economist gave a good analogy.  When you get a pay raise, is the
first thing you do increase your mortgage payment?  Like a mortgage, the
federal debt is low-interest and there are probably better uses for your
money.

What does the U.S. government do with the money collected from Social
Security?  Spend it, of course.  SS is a pay-as-you-go system, the trust
fund is a myth.  For it not to be a myth, the government would have to
invest the money back in the private sector, but do you really want Uncle
Sam deciding which companies to invest in?

As for those who say that "you know" we need social programs, I say it's not
obvious at all.  There are advanced countries that don't have a nationalized
retirement system (e.g. Japan), there are countries that don't have a
nationalized medical system (e.g. the U.S.).  For any given category of
social spending, you can find places without them.  It's actually quite
difficult to demonstrate that the programs make much difference over the
long run.  Often government spending ends up just displacing private charity
and personal savings.  There are several lines of evidence that free medical
care in the U.S. would have no effect on death rates, for example.

On the subject of California's electricity crisis, I hear this interesting
story on NPR:

Newly released figures show that contrary to claims by California, the state
paid some of its highest energy prices to in-state companies.

All year, California Gov. Gray Davis has vilified out-of-state power
companies, calling them "pirates and the "biggest snakes on the planet", for
overcharging the state. Yet the sales figures released this week by the
state's power purchasing agency show some out-of-state companies were
selling power at a rate 12 percent below average, while some in-state
companies charged 62 percent above the average price for electricity.

The data comes as a federal mediator disputes California's claim that it is
owed nearly $9 billion in refunds from power generators. Administrative Law
Judge Curtis Wagner said California is owed "very large refunds", but
estimates the correct figure is only around $1 billion.

There is good news for California's power-starved businesses and residents.
The new data show the average price per megawatt-hour has fallen by more
than half since January. Officials hope the price will keep falling as new
power plants come on-line and more long-term energy contracts are signed.
Hear more as NPR's Scott Horsley reports on the power situation in
California (http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20010713.atc.08.ram).

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