Imagine you could start a country from scratch the way our forefathers did. You would get the chance to define your government for the people (the governed) by the people (the governed). Would your first course of action be to screw the general population? Welcome to the USA as it is today with a "pro business" model that basically places most working Americans at the mercy of people who would prefer they work for as little as possible and then leave them with as little as possible when they need it most--when they are older and less able to earn.

The fact is that social security and medicaid/medicare were solutions to known problems when they came about...they were not merely giveaways to the poor-and you will notice that when Bush tried to hand social security over to Wall Street (shortly before the collapse) Americans said "NO" in a very loud voice...they knew they couldnt trust Wall Street and they were proven right.

Yet when the mega banks of Wall Street collapsed who came to save them? The very government who said no to giving them the retirement money of the citizenry. The excuse of course was that if we didnt give them the money there would be layoffs and massive failures in every sector of the economy.....we saved the banks and the layoffs came anyway....except at the banks of course.

The fact is that nearly every nation in the civilized world has national healthcare and a more stable job condition than the USA. Sure, the republicans and libertarians will remind you they pay more in taxes and have fewer luxuries....but in the end how valuable are your luxuries if the repo man takes them away when you change jobs again? Would you trade higher taxes to know you can focus on living a happier life with a job that lasts more than two years, health care no matter what your situation, and freedom to still be an entrepreneur if you so choose? Sure, people in Canada and the UK and France may not have a brand new car each year or a big screen TV for Christmas every year, but they can and do save for such toys and honestly are not living hovels, eating gruel, and toiling in the fields....they work the same kinds of jobs we do--and they do them for decades in most cases...and they appear to be happy without rampant consumerism, debt, and instability.

The American "life" which has been shaped largely through the financial influence of corporate America features "self reliance" as the euphamism for "you're on your own", freedom as a euphamism for "dont expect the government you pay taxes to to help you with anything" and "pro business" as a euphamism for "anti people". The entire legal system is for sale at all levels from cap and trade being a compromise to a clean air and clean water policy to the wealthy being able to literally get away with murder.

In the last fifty years or so we have mostly allowed the right wing of this nation to dominate our politics, our economy, and our legal system. The result is that most working Americans are on thin ice financially, treading water over complete failure, their health and their wealth all reliant on employment by companies who give them as little as possible and who will send that job across the ocean to make a stockholder an extra dollar....it is the closest thing to slavery you can get without chains and whips.

Spitzer is more right than he knows. Its time to take an honest look at our country and ask if what we really want is a life of running on the wheel until we have a heart attack.

"we saved the banks and the layoffs came anyway....except at the banks of course"

Uhh, bank layoffs have actually been pretty brutal...and there's a big difference between 10% unemployment and 25% unemployment.

And if you can't handle the American ideals of Darwinian creative destruction and brutal individualism--the gods given right of every American to spurn his fellow man-in-need--why do you live here? The USA is for big leaguers, sons.

Last I knew the USA was by the people and for the people....not by the big leaugers and for the big leaugers. You may want to bone up on your history dude.

Don't worry, sooner or later you'll die, and all this shit will go away.

You first.

Libertarian does not equal pro-business corporatism.

I'm sure your local CC has some basic econ classes. You should look into it.

Great Society was clearly a Chamber of Commerce idea (last 50 yrs). And it worked so well, too. Ever see those Gangland shows on NatGeo? Everyone seems to be doing fine in a nice neighborhood and then cradle-to-grave nannie-types build a housing project.

The great society was a means of preventing revolution, and it did.

It was never really intended to do anything else.

You grow up. And while you are at it, if you want Darwinian production and distribution, particularly in the middle of a global economy where social democracy is widely prevalent, you better get ready for one heck of a mess.

Your devolution of power to the local levels will result in warlordism, like it always has, fools.

They want the law of the jungle and only have to look at Africa, Asia, Central and South America (where the few jungles remain) to find what that gets us.......support your local warlord (or other feudal system hero).

I also find it funny the guy mentions Gangland....its on the HISTORY CHANNEL because it is history. It also happens that the same channel glorifies military leaders too. Every group has its own idea of who a hero is.

But then Gangland is a good lesson to the Bootstrap theorists who believe anyone in America can be successful via "hard work". The heroes in Gangland figured out that McDonalds wages wont pay the bills so they sought out supply and demand businesses that worked in their neighborhoods....drugs and sex trade. It may be a criminal enterprise, but it does provide the rewards their hard work wouldnt get them slinging burgers in the projects......the darwinians should be happy.

And hey Candox....ever notice they believe in darwinism only when talking about economics? If we get into religion and creation Darwin loses all that cred.......

You right because the government knows how to spend your money better than YOU do.

Way off base there Moosie.

The government knows what we need that the corporations will never provide unless forced. A fair wage, health care, etc are all contrary to profit motive.

Econ 101.....

So you and the current President Obamas opinion is. Businesses
should just break even and give the rest to the government
so politicians and bureaucrats can redistribute the money
the way they think it should be redistributed.

Econ 101??

I think your outrage is a little misplaced Moosie.

What about the banks that we bailed out with taxpayer dollars who then took that money and paid million dollar plus bonus money to poorly performing executives?

You take issue when a worker making minimum wage can finally get health care they couldnt afford before (again these people work for a living) but are OK with big corporations taking my tax dollars and making sure some desk jockey suring porn all day gets his millions so he wont surf porn at a different bank?

This is my point. When the government funds corporations and corporate initiatives thats OK, but when the government tries to help out people trying to work hard and actually make it here you call it wealth redistribution....as if corporations dont distribute wealth on some other imagined scale of fairness that says management is worth more than workers......

I will tell you this one time you will never beat the market. An employer owes the employee what the employee is willing to work for no more no less. When gov steps in and makes us pay more it is called fascism and that is right where we are headed. You social justice people need to get a life. If it were not for business owners where the H are you going to get a job? You as employees can start talking when you have everything on the line. If you do not like the job or think you are underpaid get a different one. We respect our employees but too often today the employees do not respect their employers. Little class warfare there, you guys on the left love that. The rich guy had to screw someone to get it right. As for profit, where do you get your salary, hmmmm let me see. Oh yeh it come from profit. If there is no profit you do not have a job so get over it and go back to your nice little gov job where no one has a clue. You people are going to shoot yourselves in the foot eventually.