The "L" word, the "S" word, and the "C" word.

[King Coal]

Wednesday rant: I was just telling a conservative friend how we were getting hosed by our company’s health insurance, and that I couldn’t understand why we need to have the corporations we work for responsible for our health care. It is like buying groceries at the company store. If they need to cut costs to make a bigger bonus for the top rung dwellers they either make you pay a bigger piece of the premium or have your benefits reduced. Or both, as in our case. So, I was explaining to him that we should insure ourselves and share the risk without involving a corporation to purchase the insurance on our behalf, or involve a profit-sucking insurance entity either. He started screaming the “S” word at me. “Socialism, You’re a socialist,” he snorted in hyperventilating breaths. So I countered with the question of whether he would prefer that we hire only mercenaries for the military, should all of our hi-ways be toll roads, should all of our schools be private (he is on the school board), should we let all of our National Forests be privately owned, should we do away with rural electrification co-ops, etc. The “S” word is just like the “L” word. “Liberal”, as we all know means to be broadminded and freethinking. Unscrupulous conservatives have tagged the word with undeserved negative connotations. We don’t live in a pure “C” word world. Our economy is not pure capitalism. It‘s a mixed economy. We take the best solution for the application. That solution is capitalism for by far the largest part. But, in some instances, where infrastructure or risk is to be shared, the “S” word works better. It is simple economics. If you cut out a profit-taking middle man, you avoid a parasitic cost. /rant

[shoelace414]

1. I believe I heard

Jack Ryan talking about being upset that he can't help to try to get rid of the failed New Deal.

failed? hunh?

[hughee99]

2. Currently,

You can go out and get your own health insurance and opt out of your companies insurance plan. I think you'll find that it's still a lot more expensive, though.

[King Coal]

4. Well, of course it is.

That's why I want socialized insurance. Keep the corporations out of it.

[SheilaT]

3. What we really need

is universal health care. We're the ONLY industrialized nation not to have it, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why so many people think it's perfectly okay that millions of Americans are not insured, and millions more have inadequate insurance.

Or that even the best of policies have caps, and just hope and pray nothing catastrophic happens to cause you to use up all of your benefits.

When I'm feeling sarcastic enough, I state that I have the best insurance in the world: I'm healthy. But I know that it could change in a heartbeat.

[Bandit]

5. I don't consider National Health Care any more socialistic than

Any National Program or Bureau. Like Police or Fire ~ FEMA or National Parks or National Highway funding. It is a matter of maintaining your assets. People are our countries biggest asset and we don't maintain them. It would be like me never doing any preventive maintenance on my vehicles, or for that matter any maintenance at all. It would be the most foolish thing any company could do. The same holds true for a country. It must take care of it's assets. Even a Republican must acknowlege that.

[SoCalDem]

6. L(ove)....S(oup)....C(andy)....

Labels are silly, because they only convey the speaker's biases, and rarely define the target.:)

[LiberalFighter]

7. Weren't the Puritans socialists?

Didn't they have to share in the chores of the community? Weren't they expected to share in the results?

[zbdent]

8. On Air America this morning, a good analogy

"This administration wants to socialize health care costs and capitalize profits."

[King Coal]

10. I don't know if that is an analogy,

but it like it. It is really true.

[JHB]

9. What about the "J" word?

Cheney wants to add it to his repetoire

[BloodyWilliam]

11. Market socialism is the definition of middle-of-the-road economic policy

A system where business and government interests balance each other through regulation and provision of services IS middle of the road! It's neither the excesses and corruption of pure capitalism, or the ridiculous restriction of pure communism!

THAT is a truth we need to hammer home. As liberals, our brand of socialism is all about balance between government and business.

[flpoljunkie]

12. Root of liberal is libre which means "free" esp. in the sense "freeborn,

not a slave." Isn't this what we all want--"liberals", "moderates" and "conservatives"--and isn't this what many of us fear is being taken away by the likes of Bush and his minions--notably, John Ashcroft?