Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (29369)	9/28/2006 12:24:46 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541374

Regarding oil, the government was the owner of much of the land where oil and gas are now extracted (by default, since much of it never had a private owner), so they now get royalties from those lands, and normal taxes on oil companies as business operations. That probably accounts for the majority profit position there. As for education and healthcare, few if any countries leave those primarily to the private sector. I can't think of one where there isn't heavy or complete government control. So I would not use them to measure the socialist quotient in an economy. No doubt, a liberal Democratic Congress would aim for more regulations to achieve their ends, just as this Congress uses regulations and higher government intrusion to further their security ends. Each side would plead necessity as a justification rather than simply getting off on wielding government power. At the end of the day, the two major parties are much more alike philosophically than they are different. They have different priorities as policy goals, but how they go about what they do is pretty similar. The fantasy that one favors huge government while the other hates it is belied by the government spending record the last 30 years, IMHO.