The key to winning the election

You probably don't want to read this. It's another opinion on who's best for the presidency. Still reading? Well, remember, I warned you.

The main issue facing the nation in 2008 is not going to be the economy. It's not going to be immigration. It's not going to be the war in Iraq. It will almost certainly not be about the budget. All those things get a lot of hot air spewed about from the candidates, but the fact of the matter is no one man (or woman) is going to wave a magic wand and change the way things are going to play out in the economy. Or immigration. Or the war. Or definitely the budget.

Here's why. Capitalist economies run hot or cold depending on whether people spending money believe they will be able to replace what they spend this week with what they earn next week. People are willing to use credit cards if they believe they can eventually pay the bill. Very few people actually go out and max out their card on impulse, not realizing it's real money. Even when you are broke, you consider when the bill will come and what you will have in your pocket, don't you?

Now, imagine any of the contenders in the White House come next spring. Feeling confident? Yes? No? Maybe you figure the Arabs and oil companies will still have their foot on our necks? That would be a good bet, and the only way to ease the consumer crunch is to relieve the fuel crunch. No president is going to change that, though they may make it more expensive still. Politicians just don't seem to get what it takes to make ends meet today, and fuel for a car and a furnace isn't a luxury item. Fuel runs the economy and the president can't repeal the law of supply and demand. Ain't neither getting better for a while.

Immigration. They will keep coming and we could hire the entire population of Ohio for border guards and they would still get in. If we tried rounding all the illegals up, we'd be sending supertanker-loads of people all over the world, not just Mexico, and the costs would be astronomical, stupendously overshadowing any manpower requirement since world war II. Even by Washington standards, it isn't doable. Ain't going to happen.

The war. Say Obama, the most strident war critic, suddenly has the actual responsibility of pulling out and seeing a huge chunk of the Middle East turn into Dante's inferno. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Saudi, they'll all go in the tank. That is one sure way to get your name in the history books, along with Chamberlain's "Peace in our time" and Bush's "You're doing a heck of a job (in New Orleans), Brownie."

The war goes on.

The budget. Some famous dead guy told a bunch of other famous dead guys that any government that allowed its citizens to vote themselves money from the public treasury would soon bankrupt the country. It will come, like a freight train sliding down Saluda grade on an icy day. It just isn't here yet.

We will feel like a South American economy before the political will to change how federal money is spent changes.

No budget reform.

Taxes. I didn't list that, but if Huckabee, who I want to like a lot, gets in and actually tries to replace a graduated income tax with a 30 percent sales tax, he is insane. I hope he's just kidding about that.

No, the one issue that absolutely has to be addressed is health care. Every year premiums go up. More people drop their coverage. Less money comes in and costs go up, so the premium goes up again. More people can't pay.

Where do all these uninsured people go? The emergency room -- and maybe the hospital collects -- or the county health clinic. If politicians keep dancing around, we will have national health care by default, except instead of being planned and managed it will be bloated and slapdash. Even by Washington standards.

I have yet to hear a health plan that gives me confidence. Of course national health will have to protect doctors from malpractice and guarantee a minimum fee, and of course taxes will have to rise. Of course it will not satisfy everyone, or please anyone. That too is to Washington standards.

Providing for the common good is what government is for. National health care, choose your vote wisely.

Chip Worrell, a Times-News community columnist, can be contacted at cworr@juno.com. His column appears on the third Friday of every month.