Art, you would have liked the system in the Soviet Union. Wonder why it, as well as the country, collapsed? Could it be because everyone had their hand out? No creativity? No innovation? Thank God for the balance here -- conservatives and liberals seem to create a balance (I can't help but remember the old saying: "Making law is like making sausage. Neither are very pretty to watch being made)."

I spent my career in managing employee benefits and have studied government programs. It's true that many good benefits have come out of political ideas. However, there is so much waste in Medicare (as an example), you wouldn't believe it. I firmly believe that a major reason medical costs are so out of control is that government got into the business of providing healthcare. It was a great idea, but has been so fraught with fraud and mismanagement that we have paid substantially more for our care than necessary. The providers have seen it as a free lunch, especially when they can bill for services never rendered and no one audits them. Thankfully things have improved somewhat, but we are headed for many more problems.

No, my friend....the SMALLER the government, the better. It would be wonderful if politicians would quit promising the moon to everyone, just to get their vote. So many don't realize that it's there money that's being wasted. From the looks of it however, I doubt that will happen in our lifetime. If you like big government, you should continue to be happy with the way things are going, no matter who is elected.

Peace!

Jim