Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainMattJ.
Like many things in life, everything in moderation.
Let's see how long your utopian country lasts. The government has completely stopped regulating business and only enforces laws protecting your basic rights. Watch how fast we revert back to the days of Rockefeller and Carnegie. Watch how fast those monopolies roll right back in. watch how fast the people become ever more strangled in the vice of corporate greed. Government has a duty to regulate. Regulate the lives of certain people. Rockefeller was a U.S citizen. Was it not necessary to force him not to exploit people the way he did?
There is most certainly a fine line between true forms of socialism and assistance. Through taxes people should find comfort that the money they pay to the government will be there to catch them when they fall so they don't die of starvation because they lost their job and can't find another just yet., to build a better community, to do things that wouldn't otherwise be done or would be corrupted by privatized industries. That system is there for you, and i, and any citizen should they fall flat on their arse and need help getting back up. Uncle sam is there to lend you that hand so long as you pay into him. It makes sure that the hard working american citizen who gets laid off because of private industries shipping his job to china, doesn't have to watch him and his family starve in the gutter.
Not to say that there aren't exploiters of the system. I also believe this system should be regulated. You must actively search for a job. You can't just coast on government checks your entire life and expect to not lift a finger again.
but the so called "foundations" Of America that you describe sound an awful lot like 1800s America to me. And believe me, those were not good times to be living in as the average joe, i can assure you. There's a reason things like social security and welfare exist. It's because people just like you and me had to endure the grueling misery of deregulation and the insurmountable hardships it brought. And there are still problems today. Obamacare ensures that people like my sister can't be turned down by insurance companies solely based on pre-existing conditions. That people don't have to bankrupt themselves to get care for their family because no insurance company will take them. While there are parts of the bill that should be repealed the bill is otherwise much, much needed progress.
None of this wouldve happened without government. The way we live today is because of the regulation put forth by the government. While the boundaries for where government should stop regulating are being fueded over (legalization of marijuana and immigration reform, ect), id say government has taken necessary intervention so far with a few exceptions.
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Matt, that was a very well written point and I agree with you for the most part.
People on this forum have a misconception on my views.I have stated before that I believe in a safety net and some reasonable regulation but the government is out of control and has been for a long time.Obamacare has a very few good points, such as the pre conditions but it does not warrant screwing up the healthcare system in the manner it will. How do I know this? Unlike 90% of those in congress and prob 98% of American people, I actually read that monstrosity of law after it was passed.
This law was advertised as lowering costs? Well it's 20 new taxes, esp on things such as medical equipment do not lower costs, they raise them.How? Well the costs gets passed down the chain and has ended up with high premiums, which will continue to go up.This law is not about helping people get insurance, it is about making insurance out of the reach of the majority of the population(as it is within reach now) and condition them for the idea of single payer system, which they couldn't get passed.The taxes and regulations are harmful, look at businesses already talking of layoffs.This just defies economic sense but they sold it as "helping people". Want to help people? They should have just made medicare an option for everyone who cant afford health insurance and fund it properly.Those who want their private healthcare, let them keep it.Simple, easy, but this law is about government control and ideology, not helping people get insurance.