VBVW for December 1, 2006:
Funny money, fools, and Ford

• The Very Best

The 2008 presidential election is still two years away, but the political bloodletting has already begun. Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced that he won’t be amongst those seeking to live in the White House in the next election. The senator’s presidential aspirations were recently thrown under the bus when it became apparent he didn’t have Republican support for his leadership. It’ll be good to see Frist get back to medicine, where he can continue his efforts to revive Terry Schiavo.

Despite announcing its worst monthly loss in ten years, Wal-Mart is managing to do what the U.S. government can not: provide affordable prescriptions. The big-box’s $4 generic prescription plan has the fringe benefit of putting the squeeze on pharmaceutical companies, a.k.a. America’s ambulance chasers. Wal-Mart haters, do not fret: Sam and his club appear to be losing money on the program.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson ordered the U.S. Treasury Department to make paper currency more recognizable to blind people. It’s hard enough to tell our bills apart even with 20/20 vision, and the judge made his ruling in the case of American Council for the Blind v. Secretary of the Treasury. But wait a minute—isn’t Justice blind? We smell favoritism.

• The Very Worst

Nearly half of Ford Motor Company’s unionized workers have given up their jobs in exchange for severance and early retirement benefits worth a maximum of $140,000. That puts some 38,000 auto industry employees on the street. Ford also mortgaged its assets for the first time in its history, trying to find a way to make money and stave off foreign competition. Despite what it means for the future of Ford, the highest toll is to people in the Detroit workforce—who, in a final stroke of irony, now can only afford crappy American cars.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton managed to be on camera to pontificate on both Michael Richards’ racial rant and the NYPD groom shooting. Isn’t it time these media hogs stopped being the unreasonable voice of reason for the black community? It’s like having Pat Roberts and Rush Limbaugh represent every white person in America.

Everyone loves fun facts about prison, and the Department of Justice provided a humdinger this week. It reported that a record 7 million American adults are currently behind bars, on probation, or on parole. That’s one out of every 42 citizens checking into the iron-bar hotel—where all the amenities, including a new wife, are paid for by the state.