Mitt gets booed at the NAACP convention.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Griff

Free stuff for everyone is a problem.

Very very few get anything "for free". You truly have to be incapacitated to get a substantial amount of stuff for free, and I think we can all agree that those who are incapacitated probably should get stuff for free. There's this pervasive idea started by the "welfare queen" comment that people live lives of luxury when they are on the dole, anecdotes of people on welfare driving Cadillacs. That's not a case of poor people who can afford expensive things, it's a case of wealthy people criminally getting welfare payments. The way to fix it is to monitor the system more closely, but that would cost more money and increase the size of government, so we can't do that.

Then there's the issue of people getting help when they can afford it. I am offended that millionaires get social security payments and access to medicare. I am appalled that people who can afford multi-million dollar beachfront homes get their flood insurance subsidized.

Originally Posted by Griff

We are dependent on a program.

If there's not a program to be dependent on, folks would be dependent on a company - a retirement fund instead of social security, a health insurance company instead of medicare/medicaid. The difference? There's no incentive for a government program to screw you to make a few extra dollars. If the folks choose not to use a company for those services, and there's no program, then our fellow citizens would suffer, or they would be helped by charity, or by family or other individuals. It WILL happen, and the cost WILL be expended. It doesn't make a big difference to my wallet if my money goes to a government program, a company, a charity, or I give it directly to a person in need. The cost is there, and it will be paid.

Originally Posted by Griff

The USSR fell, obviously too dependent.

I don't think the cause of the downfall of the USSR is obvious or because it was too dependent.