Which is not surprising. I never said I wanted Cable or other items taken over by government and will thank you to quit putting words in my mouth or misstating my intentions. What you said was that we could just do without everything if we didn't like paying for them. Well, that includes some rather necessary items like food and heating oil.

I certainly have a good idea of what made this country. I'm older than you (and a helluva lot wiser). This country was built on the blood, sweat and tears of a lot of generations of people like my parents and grandparents who worked all their lives and then, when they became old and ill, could no longer get or retain health insurance because of preexisting conditions. Things were actually better financially when cancer couldn't be treated. Once treatments were found, people watched their savings for retirement go into the pockets of drug manufacturers who overcharged for their wares which didn't do one damn thing other than make people miserable and sicker than shit while they were dying.

My grandfather had savings in a bank long before the Great Depression. He had the equivalent of quite a few thousand dollars and when he went to the bank to make a withdrawal when he needed some of the funds, guess what? The bank couldn't find a record of having his funds. He had a bank book but they denied having them. The bank literally stole his money.

Pharmaceutical companies and banks and big business are nothing better than thieves. They'll take you last damn dime if government weren't there to regulate them. If they don't put a stopper on Big Pharma, there may be a revolution in this country. I'm too old and incapable of participating but others aren't. Think it can't happen? I doubt if Mubarak thought it could happen there. Government and big business do NOT understand the depth of resentment or how much people are pissed off.