Borealis and the Chairman June 13, 2005March 2, 2017 BOREALIS If lottery tickets could issue annual reports, here is what they would look like. For those of us with shares, it is, at the least, an interesting read. (‘Projections are notoriously dangerous, but we would be surprised if we did not have some actual net earnings for [this fiscal year].’) HOWARD DEAN Opinions are mixed. The Republican leadership can’t let go of his wild-eyed calls on the campaign trail: He advocated health care for all rather than massive tax cuts for the already rich. Absurd. He railed against the enormous budget deficits – $700 billion this year (bringing the Reagan-Bush-Bush deficit to nearly $6 trillion of our total $7.8 trillion National Debt). Nutty. He favored the invasion of Afghanistan but recklessly opposed attacking Iraq at the time and in the way we did. Mad! Among Democrats, some have been critical; others are more like John Cory, a Purple Heart / Bronze Star Vietnam vet, who writes: ‘I want someone who will stand up not stand down. I want someone outspoken and outrageous and out there, for me. I want someone on my side, not on my back for more money. I want someone who fights, not folds at the first sign of fake indignation.’ Either way, Howard is not the candidate. So if some of our candidates DO choose to demonstrate their moderate credentials by distancing themselves from him – good cop, bad cop – that’s not entirely unhelpful either. But the truth is, a few intemperate remarks notwithstanding, Howard is exceptionally level-headed and moderate – far more fiscally prudent, for example, than the borrow-and-spend Republicans. Yes, perception is all. But perceptions change. Click here for the latest from yesterday’s Washington Post. In my admitttedly biased view, we have a terrific Chairman.