Agree. But I don't actually oppose any tool that works well for - a free society. Like our wonderful socialized

Not just the USPS - vf

Actually, we may just object to that. :) My concern is what more - will be lost before we wise up. SM

Not doing so well..... - SK1

We did have this before.. - it was called

And why wouldn't we want that? Is that a boogyman term too? - vf

Because when the people who created all that wealth - demanded a share, troops were called out

In spite of delivering our mail continually since the Second Continental - Congress, our USPS is now NOT ALLOWED to

Am I reading your post right? - backwards typist

Those who are scared of "socialism" - sm

Agree so much. The greater the lack of understanding, - the more vulnerable we are to fear. And

There's a difference between fear and opposition... - SK1

The fear I'm referring to is right there in your post. - sm

If it was only a dozen, I would agree.... - SK1

It's certainly not fear.  Cynicism perhaps, suspicion definitely.

I think there's a proportionately much larger number of people who game the system than you might be crediting.  And the real problem with that with the limited funds available to help those truly in need.

Here are some numbers cited by the Cato Institute:

The data cited in the following bullets are from a 2009 GAO report on improper payments, unless otherwise noted:⁶³

• Food Stamps. This welfare program is a target for fraud because it is so large and complex. The government must keep track of millions of individuals to accurately document their eligibility while keeping tabs on the 160,000 retailers who deal in food stamps to look for illegal trafficking. In the past, the program spawned a huge black market as recipients exchanged their food stamps for cash on the street. Today, food stamps are issued on electronic cards, and fraud levels have been reduced. Nonetheless, the program’s improper payment rate is still about 6 percent, costing taxpayers about $1.7 billion annually.


• School Lunches. A large share of subsidized school meals are taken by families with incomes above the legal cutoff points. Program audits and statistical data have found that about one-quarter of those receiving free and reduced-cost lunches are not eligible.⁶⁴ Those unjustified benefits cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion annually.


• Supplemental Security Income. This program pays out $4.6 billion in improper and fraudulent benefits annually.


• Children’s Health Insurance Program. About 15 percent, or more than $800 million annually, of CHIP benefits are improper or fraudulent.


• Child Care programs. The federal child care, foster care, and Head Start programs pay out about $900 million in improper and fraudulent benefits annually.


• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This program pays out $1.7 billion annually in improper and fraudulent benefits.


• Unemployment Insurance. Almost $4 billion of annual UI benefits are improper or fraudulent.


• Universal Service Fund. This Federal Communications Commission program pays out almost $1.3 billion annually in improper and fraudulent subsidies.


• Earned Income Tax Credit. Almost one-third of EITC payments—$12 billion annually—are improper or fraudulent.


• Veterans Affairs. This department loses at least $800 million annually on improper and fraudulent payments, but the total is likely higher because losses are not reported for all of the department’s programs.


• Emergency Response. Subsidies provided in the wake of emergencies are highly susceptible to fraud and abuse because funds are usually pushed out the door quickly with little planning or oversight. Federal recovery aid after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 were subject to high levels of waste. The GAO estimated that about $1 billion of payments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency made in just the first sixth months after the storms were “improper and potentially fraudulent.”⁶⁵


• Procurement. We have focused on fraud and abuse in federal subsidy programs. But another area of fraud and abuse is federal contracting. Most people have heard of this problem in defense procurement—weapons contractors that rip off federal taxpayers with inflated billings. But fraud and abuse in contracting are government-wide problems, which hamper the ability of government programs to operate efficiently.

(http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/fraud-and-abuse)

Those are HUGE numbers.  And that doesn't even begin to touch the other side of the table, where providers are also guilty of fraud.

So no, it's not fear, it's pragmatism.  The more readily available you make handouts, the more unworthy people will step up to receive them and providers abuse them. 

Throwing out the baby with the bath water is not the answer. - sm

I agree wholeheartedly... - SK1

Yes, SK1 is a sensible conservative who checks various viewpoints. - If only it were catching. :) NM

Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor - Fanatical Hypocrite

It's the same old story in America for decades now.  The rich want to get richer and the poor just want to live, which gets tougher every day.  The blame can be set back to Nixon, who had his paws in everything.  He stripped away a lot of the safeguards in the system back then.  Every since then, despite some progress in many areas, we've been going backwards with each subsequent president when it comes to the regulation, legality and morality of the investment, banking and insurance industries.  At the same time, we sold our industry to foreign countries, such as Japan in the 80's-90's and China and India now.  I don't blame them for buying our stuff, I blame us for selling it.  Moreover, our remaining corporations have become huge, corrupt and unwieldy.  

I used to identify more with Republicanism.  Not the religious agenda of it (not that I don't have my own beliefs, just keep 'em to myself and like-minded individuals).  Ask a friend of mine who escaped from Iran in the 80's how mixing politics and reilgion goes for a society.  But I like the idea of small government, low taxes and fiscal conservatism.  However, as time has passed and I've gotten older, I've found myself moving away from these beliefs.  I've witnessed the excesses of an unrestrained free market where the only regulators are in bed with the regulatees.  Also, while I moved a little away from the Republican Party, they fled so fast and far to the right I never would have been able to keep up anyway.  While I argue that I am not a socialist, by the modern re-definition of the word I'm practically the reincarnation of Marx.  For instance, I didn't build any of the roads and highways I use to get around.  I even go to the library. 

So these days, while I want a leaner, smarter government, I wouldn't call myself a small government guy anymore.  I still completely get the argument, it's just personally I think that for a modern society to exist, one must have access to things only a government can regulate.  Now I want a far more transparent and direct democracy, but I support universal health care (though not Obamacare) and universal education (though not... oh wait... we don't have education in America).  And while I think most of global warming is probably the natural course of the planet, I like my air made of oxygen, my water made of the same with a hint of hydrogen (yum, hydrogen, nature's corn syrup) and my property not piled high with garbage or radioactive waste.  So even if global warming really is a conspiracy created by Al Gore in his spare time, when he isn't building additions to the internet, I like environmental regulation even if it needs a lot of fine tuning (what doesn't?). 

The thing I find the strangest about the fear of socialism from the wealthy is that they are the direct cause.  If I buy a dog, starve it and then beat it every time it whines, I really should be afraid that dog is going to eat me, because one day it has to ask why it hasn't done so already.  The poor, even the remnants of the middle class, are tired and hagged and now they have to hear about how they are failures.  The unredeemable 47%.  They say we're jealous of their success.  I'm jealous of their tax rate.  I'm jealous of their subsidies.  I'm jealous of their bailouts.  I'm jealous of their sense of entitlement.  I'm jealous that once you have enough money, you can gamble with other people's money and never have to work again if you chose to. 

So, here's a warning to the rich.  If you want to stop socialism in its tracks, level the playing field.  If you want everyone to keep playing Monopoly, then stop cheating, play by the rules and don't ridicule the other players. 

"Truth is not to be found either in traditional capitalism or in Marxism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically, capitalism failed to discern the truth in collective enterprise and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise." - Martin Luther King, Jr.