Little Hawk, thanks for the posting. You and I may never agree but at least we keep it civil. All too often conservatives are linked to big business and their way of doing things but, as Sportin' Life says,"It ain't necessarily so." We want many of the same things the "Liberals" want. What we differ on is the way of achieving these goals. This said. Consider the following; men women and children risk their lives almost daily to leave Cuba and Sweden has the largest suicide rate in the industrial world. It is obvious that universal free health care and "Womb to Tomb" state welfare leaves SOMETHING to be desired. That something might be the freedom to do what you want with your life. I don't know. Does anyone? Frank, if you are a working man then it has to anger you to see people who don't work and don't want to living off yours and my paycheck. Welfare was never meant to be a permanent thing. It was designed to help those who were down temporarily-just like you were- until they could get back on their feet. It galls my soul to see families who have been on government assistance for three and four generations. I want to scream when I hear of people with five or six ID's and addresses and collection money on all of them. And the welfare cheats milk the system for millions of dollars each year as do those who practice medicare and medical insurance fraud. I know people personally who have opted NOT to buy medical insurance so that they can have a bigger bass boat or a newer truck. They go to the E.R. and get free care. I don't feel that I should have to support them when they have made a clear choice. As for the bums, to me these are the people who expect the government to take care of them. I know people who are called bums by society. Many of them are Viet Nam vets who never made it all the way back. They live on a lousy little pension and spend most of their time on the street. I help them when I can because I could have wound up there too. But I will not give one thin dime to the lazy S.O.B. who is able-bodied and able to work and instead lives off his girl-friend and her adc checks. As for the assertion that "bums" gave us some of our finest folk songs, I suppose that you are talking about Woody Guthrie, who did indeed spend a lot of time bumming around and writing. He also worked for the Federal Government (promoting the Grand Coulee Dam) and was in the merchant marine in WWII. He wrote some great songs but neglected his family shamefully much of the time. As for others, I don't really know of any except for some of the old blues players and they generally worked dances and parties. I am not closed minded. I can be swayed. But it takes a real good argument with documentation, not emotionalism.(even tho I use it myself on ocassion)
And Greg, I never said it was the poor who were getting my goat. It's the people who abuse the system and feel that it is their "right" to be supported. Anyone who thinks that way is robbing me and mine and I OBJECT!

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