I'd just like to clarify that I wasn't arguing against the entire essay, just the point that it was trying to make about nationalized health care being a bad thing (which admittedly, was a small portion of it). I really don't care about most of the rest of the essay, because I don't see anyone in the US arguing that the government should pay for anti-government protests or panhandler's unions. Those are both ridiculous ideas and no one in the US is looking to Quebec as a new model for the US government.

But since you brought up a few other points.....:) .....

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Specifically Im concerned about waste, fraud, and bribery. The most dangerous is bribery.
I doubt anyone's arguing for this. I guess you think it's inherent in some "liberal" policies? Unlike, say.....Enron, Adelphi, K Street, Abramoff, Blackwater, Halliburton, or the Bush administration?
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The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the publics money.
Like an economic "stimulus" package that centers around mailing out tax rebate checks?
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Think about this. Where do you have a say about the quality of service you are given? Is it at the post office? Is it at the tax office? Is it at the courthouse? No. It is at Wendys. It is at Wal Mart, the gas station, the furniture store.
I won't argue for the tax office or the courthouse, but I love the USPS. And Wendy's (or in my case, Taco Bell) screws up my order regularly. No one knows a damn thing about the products at Wal-Mart (the salespeople at Best Buy, do, though), there's no service at ALL at gas stations, except in New Jersey, and I'm boycotting Mor Furniture because they advertise once-in-a-lifetime sales twice a week. I'm definitely not saying monopolies are good, because I, too, believe that corruption is inherent in a monopoly (especially if you play with my former friend Josh and let him be the banker). All I'm saying is that private businesses can be as corrupt or more corrupt than government agencies providing the same service, and many governmental agencies are just fine or even GOOD.