Craig
We've been discussing the role of government to insure our safety and well being, such as traffic safety laws, food and drug regulations, etc. I have no problem with any of that.
However, "Uncle Sam" isn't very good at administering major social programs efficiently. A friend recently sent me the following "report card" which supports that conclusion:
Subject: Sobering Statistics
The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it is not able to compete with private sector FedEx and UPS services. Social Security was established in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is going broke.
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> Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.
> Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.
> Together, Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.
> The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.
> Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.
> AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss.
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> This year, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff
> called the Stimulus Bill of 2009; it shows NO sign of working so far and has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.
> "Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - - after 80% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was owed.
> So, with a perfect 100% failure rate for every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system - - 17% of our economy?
> A quote from someone ahead of his time:
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> "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people under the pretense of taking care of them".
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> -- Thomas Jefferson