Quote from jem:
which is why socialists fail.
When their utopian rhetoric comes up against a battlefield , if they are reflective, they realize they were idiots.
The same goes for the large majority of socialists economic beliefs.
But with respect to health care... Obama could have made reform which suited his socialist goals.
The country may have accepted it - had he put together a useful program. Instead he hands us this abortion of a bill.
Corporate cronyism. They got em elected this is how he pays them back.
I don't know where you have come to the conclusion the 'socialists fail' !?!?!
First of all, ALL 1st world industrialized countries are 'socialist'. Including the USA.
Note the position of the USA in the Human Development Index, a measure of standard of living, and the 'socialists' countries that are ranked above us.
Imagine the standard of living we would enjoy if the gov't, and that means the PEOPLE in our country, were to extract maximum profit from resources OWNED the gov't !!! Instead, we sell off rights to the corporations welding the most power.
Gov't backed mortgages: why do we need the middleman bankers ??
Gov't backed Student Loans: why do we the middleman bankers ??
Oil, Gas, Timber: why don't we simply contract Exxon, Weyerhauser, etc. to extract the products and WE, ther people, get the profits ?? (There's your 'tax cut' btw.)
You REALLY need to get some perspective on history and reality before spouting off about 'socialism'.
A new index was released on December 18, 2008. This so-called "statistical update" covers the period up to 2006 and was published without an accompanying report on human development. The update is relevant due to newly released estimates of purchasing power parities (PPP), implying substantial adjustments for many countries, resulting in changes in HDI values and, in many cases, HDI ranks.[6]
1. Iceland 0.968 (▬

2. Norway 0.968 (▬

3. Canada 0.967 (£ 1)
4. Australia 0.965 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
5. Ireland 0.960 (▬

6. Netherlands 0.958 (£ 3)
7. Sweden 0.958 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
8. Japan 0.956 (▬

9. Luxembourg 0.956 (£ 9)
10. Switzerland 0.955 (ÂÂ¥ 3)
11. France 0.955 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
12. Finland 0.954 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
13. Denmark 0.952 (£ 1)
14. Austria 0.951 (£ 1)
15. United States 0.950 (ÂÂ¥ 3)
16. Spain 0.949 (ÂÂ¥ 3)
17. Belgium 0.948 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
18. Greece 0.947 (£ 6)
19. Italy 0.945 (£ 1)
20. New Zealand 0.944 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
21. United Kingdom 0.942 (ÂÂ¥ 4)
22. Hong Kong 0.942 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
23. Germany 0.940 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
24. Israel 0.930 (ÂÂ¥ 1)
25. South Korea 0.928 (£ 1)
26. Slovenia 0.923 (£ 1)
27. Brunei 0.919 (£ 3)
28. Singapore 0.918 (ÂÂ¥ 3)
29. Kuwait 0.912 (£ 4)
30. Cyprus 0.912 (ÂÂ¥ 2)
31. United Arab Emirates 0.903 (£ 8)
32. Bahrain 0.902 (£ 9)
33. Portugal 0.900 (ÂÂ¥ 4)