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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (8582)	8/21/2009 4:29:29 PM
From: longnshort	4 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

Politicians spend billions on encouragement to vote for them and they are harmful to our , life, liberty and pursuit of happiness

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (8582)	8/21/2009 5:03:29 PM
From: Lane3	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Lane, it's always curious to hear folks revolt at the idea of government attempting to influence people. Management of human behaviors is job #1 at most tabacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical companies. Surely you see the difference. When companies try to influence our behavior to buy their products it's called "marketing." It's an inherent part of business and the right of private citizens to do it is a matter of free speech. The government trying to influence our behaviors by using its bully pulpit for public service announcements is much like marketing and not inherently problematic. But mere influencing is not what we're talking about here. We're talking about using taxpayer dollars to impose standards, to constrain our freedoms or to impose burdens upon us. Businesses are free to advertise and we are free to ignore them. Not so with government constraints and imposition. For the government to constrain our rights or impose upon us, it needs a compelling reason. Compelling.