"I'M EIGHTY" - THE SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS OF OBAMACARE AND DODD-FRANK, AS TOLD BY A SCARED BILLIONAIRE

I heard part of the audio of this conversation earlier today on CNBC on Rush Limbaugh's show this morning, and my jaw dropped at the 1:29 mark. I sought out more of the conversation, and sadly, it affirms the worst fears I have about how little lawmakers think about the lasting effects of the legislation they pass, keeping their focus on the next election and/or what's in it for them individually. Members of both parties are guilty of this, but this is regarding the ticking neutron time bomb that is ObamaCare, the biggest looming threat to the nation's long-term financial stability, so it stands to reason this anecdote is undoubtedly about a Democrat.

The person speaking is Equity International Chairman Sam Zell, iconoclastic billionaire real estate investor and recent purchaser of the Tribune Company, who has described himself as "an economic conservative and a social liberal”:

"I went to Congress lobbying last year for the real estate industry three weeks before the passage of the health care bill, and whenever I do this for the industry, I always save one question for myself. And so I ask a simple question for the first guy that I met. And I said, 'What about the eleventh year? You guys constructed this health care bill with six years of costs and ten years of revenue. What about the eleventh year?' And the guy looks at me and says, 'I'm eighty!' I rest my case. And you know, you wanna get scared, that's scary!"

Watch the entire clip.  If you don't understand how anyone could be against ObamaCare and new banking regulations that are supposed to prevent the kind of recklessness and abuse that caused The Crash of '08, pay attention to Zell. He well represents those of us who know the devil is in the details of the 2,000+ page bills that few people (including legislators) have read, but that we all are bound by once they are shoved down America's collective throat.

Now, the question is: Who is the eighty-year-old in question?  We know it's a "he," and that he was eighty at about this time in 2010, three weeks before (presumably) the final passage of ObamaCare on March 19. Obviously, Zell won't tell. Any detectives out there?