Wes,
Your post was well thought out and written but is flawed. If you are concerned about costs; then the statement of the CBO that said the plan would
raise them should be a major concern!
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/104xx/......tee-Rangel.pdf
Also, note in your synopsis on socialism that it is commented on as being the intermediary step to something far worse. I see what the government has done and is continuing to do (bailouts, banks, autos, ad nauseum) is a giant step in that direction. Already in the healthcare bill there are points of end of life counseling for seniors over 65, and now racial balance equations being played. When will it stop? When has the government
efficiently and
effectively delivered any resource to the people? VA Hospitals?? Welfare Programs?? Housing?? The government we have was set up to do some things effectively...military, trade, etc.. the over-arching concerns spelled out in the Constitution. Things went south (IMHO) when the government decided it knew better than anyone else how to be a balance in and on society; a time I trace back to Johnson and his 'Great Society'. To me, looking back thru the decades this was the single greatest blunder in American history, and we have not been able to shake it off. It seems to me that federal meddling is the cause of our troubles, not the cure!