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The basic problem with the health bill is that although it's a step in the right direction it doesn't go nearly far enough in addressing the huge costs of a private insurance system which is inherently wasteful and encourages profit making over health care provision at a reasonable cost.




It is worth mentioning that in a capitalistic system, income generation and jobs are both desirable parts of the equation. But regarding your other observations, we have not found government management to be less wasteful than private management. The waste is just handled according to a different set of priorities. And it has not been my personal observation that government bureaucrats are more concerned about the welfare of the citizens than private sector bureaucrats. If anything, there is less accountability with the government. At least private companies answer to the stockholders. The government appears to answer to nobody. And even though we can vote out the lawmakers, the entrenched systems remain outside the influence of the people.

There was a scene in a sci fi movie.. I forget which one... in which an alien spacecraft was being studied in an elaborate underground lab. One of the characters asks "if this is top secret, how did you get funding for all this?"

and the military guy replies "you don't really think we pay $200 for hammers do you?"

Yes, it's just a movie, but it underscores the potential for skimming across all income generating entities in the control of the government