Discussions with American socialists

Lately, with the oil crisis, housing crisis, high costs of health care and the War in Iraq. I've had the unique opportunity to talk to some folks with definite opinions on what to do about the American economy.

I listen politely but find myself bothered by the simplistic solutions and short sighted notions hurled at me by people angry at our current system.

Big oil is too rich and greedy. We need to regulate gas prices and have our government take over the big oil corporations.

First of all market speculators are causing the prices of oil commodities to rise. Oil is being traded like pokemon cards. There is no shortage but the traders are sure that the stuff is worth more than it's intrinsic value.

Price controls...Americans have short memories. Price controls always bring about shortages. Remember the gas lines of the 1970's? It's economics 101. Even communists who control every aspect of a product can't stop shortages. Venezuela installed price controls on sugar, meat and rice. Now there are none to be found. I think people would rather pay more for a product than have it disappear completely.

Nationalizing oil companies? Who here thinks the government can run something honestly and efficiently without completely screwing things up with their ridiculous bureaucracy? Look at Mr Chavez down in Venezuela. He took over the oil, can't manage it, distribute it, or keep the wells flowing. It's par for the course.

Tax the rich....It sounds good. Right? Who is rich? Actually the rich pay the majority of tax revenues in this country. $349K per year and above pay 35% of their income. Should we soak them some more? The wealthy reinvest in our economy, they create jobs with their investment and spending. What does the government do with your tax money?

I'll tell you.

Every dime collected from American paychecks is used to pay the interest on the national debt. Basically, folks work 1/3 of the year and the money is used to make a red mark in the ledger. The money printed has to be backed up with something so they steal from you and literally burn your wages to prop up the fallacy of the American Dollar. Chew on that for bit.

Free health care for all..I hear this one a lot. Let the government manage health care. Talk to any veteran and ask them about the VA hospitals. That is a taste of what socialized medicine is like. When profit is taken away from the field of medicine there is no incentive for research, specialization and competition. Eventually, people are waiting months for life saving procedures. Our current system isn't perfect but if you need life saving surgery, you will get it 10 times faster than someone in Canada or England. You will get it in a private room and you will be a customer instead of a ward of the state.

Lets bail out all the people who are losing their homes. Look at the people who stupidly took out a half million dollar variable rate note and bring home a $30K income. Come on, if people don't ever have to take the hit for a stupid decision how are they ever going to learn? It is not the tax payers duty to pay for people's houses that live in flood zones or get themselves in a ridiculous debt situation.

It's these emotional knee jerk reactions to economic bumps in the road that will eventually send us over the edge.