Most people do not understand what Republicans mean by "big government". If a particular job is done by civil servants, it is "government". If it is contracted to the private sector, it is OK. None of them feel that the actual function being performed is unnecessary, but only that it should be farmed out to private industry.

What they always fail to ask is "Who can do it cheaper AND guarantee performance ?" For purely administrative functions Government is always cheaper because they do not tack "Profit" on top of the overall cost. Clearly Medicare and Medicaid can be provided much more cheaply by government than by industry because the "Government" is not actually providing the medical procedures. As it turns out, almost every function which can be farmed out to private industry is farmed out. Almost all of "big government" are private industry contract administrators.

Why not farm out Social Security? It would be done in a second IF AND ONLY IF private industry was willing to GUARANTEE payouts which we all contribute to. However, since corporations can declare bankruptcy and thereby reneg on their resposibility, we still have to count on "government" to bail them out. So why pay someone who is unwilling to guarantee returns and who demands profit, to take in our contributions and dole it out later? It is simply stupid.

If you want to compare apples to apples, let's look at how many people the government requires to do a particular job to how many people a contracted company employs to do the same job. Define 'people' as all those (including managers and executives) who charge time to the contract. Across the board, 'government' will employ fewer people to do a given job than will private industry.

The next time a dumbass republican tries to use the US Postal Service as an example of big government (which they are really not) inefficiency, ask them to send a letter (or small parcel) to Marble, CO by UPS, Fedex, and USPS and see who does it cheaper.

"Big Government" is a completly fabricated concept by corporations who want to suck as much money out of US taxpayers as they can.

Ya mean there's a Greater Force!?!? One that hedges its bets on both sides???A power so super dooper its universal and most are unaware they support it, and refuse to believe that their Lord - I mean government - would be so beligerant towards its own.

Look, look...It's the sun of God!!!

Historywriter - Kend is not concerned with credibility, he is Canadian. Just kidding with you my Canadian friend! I have a question for the more conservative commenters out there. You want to cut social welfare for those who need it the most, such as the poor and the older retired Americans. But you never mention the corporate welfare system the government supports with all the tax loop holes that allowed G.E. to actually get a multi-million dollar refund and allow non-agricultural corporations to play the tax code to get tax breaks with the Farm Bill. Obama caved in and agreed to a paltry 5% increase in Capital Gains when the actually tax liability would have gone up to a maximum of 38.5% and not the 20% the Democrats agreed upon. The wealthy and the corporations actually had the audacity to lobby for a "Repatriation" of profits back to the U.S. from off shore banks with no taxation of the billions or even trillions they have stashed in off shore banks! And with the way Obama has kissed their _ _ _, for the last four years they might even get it. The Republicans who represent the wealthy based on their actions in Congress want social welfare (as they call it) cut, but want corporate welfare to go on with even greater tax cuts in the future. The politicians have even passed tax laws that actually give the corporations a tax break for moving their company’s off shore! How is it possible for the Americans that vote for these Republican criminals in Washington not realize they are being screwed by the conservatives and continue to line up to be screwed over and over. It does not sound logical, but is it possible the Americans that vote for these criminals have a different strain of D.N.A. that allows them to live in a state of denial or is it just plain old brain washing from birth and they are simply born into these families that enjoy being betrayed by the people they vote for. Social welfare or corporate welfare, I will choose what is good for society over the profits of the business world and their corporate thugs. We will have to wait and see if Obama meant what he said or whether it is just another political speech by a politician who has yet to keep the promises he made four years ago.

Interesting, David Abbot, that you mention Ronald Willson (The Beast 666) Reagan as being an actor and hypocrite.

"Also, Reagan was a hypocrite. He said government was the problem and then he used government to help drug cartels murder people, and used the government's School of the Americas to teach Central and South American government people how to terrorize, torture, and murder their own citizens, resulting in the murders of who knows how many tens of thousands of innocent people."

In a way, it kinda makes the words I shared before by the Saint, Thomas Aquinas a bit prophetic don't you think:

(PG 48) No one, indeed, can be more truly called a hypocrite than the man who assumes the office of king and acts like a tyrant, for a hypocrite is one who mimics the person of another, as is done on the stage. Hence God permits tyrants to get into power to punish the sins of the subjects.

Maybe if President Obama's words will ring true this does mean and end to the torment of Reaganism. Perhaps we as a people have succeeded in ceasing our sins enough to receive a redeemer.

(PG 29) But to deserve to secure this benefit from God, the people must desist from sin, for it is by divine permission that wicked men receive power to rule as a punishment for sin, as the Lord says by the Prophet Osee: "I will give thee a King in my wrath" and it is said in Job that he "maketh a man that is a hypocite to reign for the sins of the people." Sin must therefore be done away with in order that the scourge of tyrants may cease.

To this end let us all support and believe in President Obama as well as pray!

Palindromedary~I must thank you for your brilliant summery you composed for Ken Ware yesterday. I think we all benefited from your vast knowledge in this area. My hat is off to you. I myself read the post at least three times and I believe I learned something new each time. It was quite a spoonful of info to digest at once.

As far as war crimes are concerned we must ask ourselves if the US is capable of murdering 3k of its citizens to enrich its corporations and Banks.

I have a certain bias to history concerning our bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. First, my father was in WWII. He was stationed in England toward the end of the war. After the Battle of the Bulge, he was selected as a replacement in the infantry for a casualty. He was loaded aboard a personnel carrier with a platoon of other soldiers and sent of in an invasion force to Japan. He described to me when I was a child the sheer terror shared among the passengers on that personnel carrier as it headed toward the shores of Japan.

Halfway across the Pacific Ocean the ship received the news that a new weapon was successfully used on Japan that brought an end to the war. The ship turned around and the crew was obviously besides themselves with joy and relief. "Drowsy with peace" if you will. If it wasn't for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki I might not exist. I might not be writing this right now. You might think that wow, I certainly have no business whatsoever criticizing the US handling of the end of the war in the Pacific theater. Then, please allow me the privileged of using my unique perspective to criticize the US handling of the end of the war in the Pacific theater.

I have often thought, if Hitler was such a "Bad Guy" for sending innocent Jews by the thousands to death in ovens, how is the US a "Good Guy" for incinerating hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian people in Dresden, Germany, Nagasaki and Hiroshima Japan. Dresden during an intense bombing campaign intended to create a fire storm and kill everyone in a city, and in Japan in a nuclear holocaust. How many more innocent lives fell at the hands of the US than Hitler and the SS?

I have also frequently wondered why Truman didn't detonate a bomb off shore, telling the Japanese government to watch? Also, why did he have to bomb two cities? Wasn't one enough? For that matter, why didn't he just send copies of the film recording the first detonation test. It scared the hell out of me when I watched it. Certainly it would have had an impact on the Emperor.

Do you realize that of all the nations in the world right now that have nuclear weapons, only the US has ever saw fit to use them to kill anyone?

Firestorms and killing innocent civilians? Ken can probably elaborate on that more than I, but I am aware of frequent use of Napalm and Agent Orange on civilian populations in Vietnam.

I'm also aware that our Government once experimented on college students with psychoactive substances; and, intentionally injected syphilis into its own military to study how long it took them to die and how many people they could infect and kill as well.

With these historic facts, no, I don't believe it is beyond the capacity of the US to have intentionally planned and implemented the attacks on 9/11. In fact, in addition to the facts that Bush had prior warnings and ignored them, the air force defense was on stand down, Bin Laden's family was having breakfast with Bush's father, when all air travel was grounded Bush signed an Executive Order so the Bin Laden family could leave the country, the debris (evidence) was collected and destroyed without a thorough examination, during the "official" investigation Bush refused to swear an oath to tell the truth and the judicial system allowed that to happen, and they also allowed Chaney to testify with him--not unlike a ventriloquist with his dummy.

The best most honest opinion I have about the whole affair is, "I Don't Know." Simple, honest and accurate. I don't know. In addition, I don't what to know the truth if the suspicion is true. It would make me infuriated and sick to my stomach. However, the truth must be known. I'll take the ills of the facts. Knowing the truth is in the best interest of the Country. I'll get over it.

Thank you for educating us and providing your audience with factual truths. I recently lived in SW Texas and I secretly chuckled when I talked to Republicans without disclosing my political orientation as a Progressive. I would discuss facts and they “always” agreed with me. For example, the CEO of United Health Care banking billions of money and increasing health care costs (legally) the last year. In the past, when I come across as a liberal they instantly reject my ideas. Though your show and pod cast I learn facts and I can debate the truth without disclosing my political orientation or emotional name calling! I also get likes on my FB from Republicans. So thank you again for educating us Thom!

Michael Hudson is also a contributer on New Economic Perspectives.

tThank you for your commentary Thom. And thank you president Obama. I little light, a little sun in a dark and cloudy time.

"Collective action" Obama said. That is just a nice way of saying your taxes are going up. All taxes. After four years of "tax the rich" and "fair share" now that Obama received his tax the top two percent increase the truth is coming out it isn't even going to put a dent into the massive spending he has done. So hang on the only way out of this mess is to take from the middle and lower income classes. Do you really believe Obama is going to convince the weathly into going under the matress and spend their money. I doubt it. Until someone can your in trouble. God bless America you are going to need him.

I also love the way North Americans talks about how great Europe is. Eight weeks holidays but you live in a 400 sq/ft apartment, no yard, no car, no RV, no boat, etc etc they can have it.

Didn't one of your Presidents say "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" or something like that. what happened to leaders like that. Now it seems its don't work hard just find a way to steal it from someone else it's so much easier.

My Mom taught me. "The only helping hand I truly have is at the end of my arm" it's done me really well. Try it maybe it will work for you.

Something of a trick question, but my take is that, as long as our government is in the hands of the corporations, banksters and Wall St., they may try to block progress, that doesn't fit their agenda. Yes there may be more jobs, since they need people to buy things and keep the corporate machine looking as innocent as possible, while they screw everyone behind the scenes, including themselves..particularly the banksters and Wall St manipulators...who may be only a few steps ahead of another major crash.

In trying to create a country that is all I-me-mine, Reagan and his fellow fascists were going against the universe, because everything in this universe is connected, everything that happens sends ripples of energy that effect other things.

Also, Reagan was a hypocrite. He said government was the problem and then he used government to help drug cartels murder people, and used the government's School of the Americas to teach Central and South American government people how to terrorize, torture, and murder their own citizens, resulting in the murders of who knows how many tens of thousands of innocent people.

Reagan said government was the problem and then he said that government would put striking air traffic controllers in prison if they didn't go back to work.

Reagan said government was the problem and then he used government to lower taxes on corporations.

And you know, I think Reagan was right: government is the problem. When government is controlled by republicans.

But hey, Reagan was paid to be an actor, both in Hollywood and as America's president. And he was a good actor. I mean, he wasn't even upstaged by that chimp he used to do movies with. Well ok, so the chimp did upstage him most of the time, but the point is, Reagan's delusional behavior has harmed billions of people in the last thirty years. And our current crop of republicans makes Reagan look like Ghandi.

Obama has a chance to help correct the harm that Reagan did to America. Obama knows that this is what the majority of Americans want him to do. He knows how to do it. He knows it's the right thing to do. But will he do it? I don't know. But I do know that if he refuses to keep his word, we will find someone who will do it.

The end of Reaganomics couldn't come soon enough for me. Little did I realise back then what Reagan and Thatcher were up to, or how far the 1% would drive that agenda. Over the past 30-odd years, the 1% and their enabler megaphone, Fox News have relentlessly promoted the policy of "trickle down" that ended up to be, "flood up". Now that they have vast financial resources to hand, they use them as leverage to perpetuate this iniquitous policy. It has taken a financial catastrophe, but people are finally waking up to what has been going on as they see the direct impact on their living standards and the growing wealth inequality. It's not hard to imagine that the end game for the corporate CEOs is for everyone in the world to be paying American (or worse yet Australian) prices for their goods and services while working for Indian or Bangladeshi wages, while the execs themselves take home ever soaring multiples of the average wage. The multiple of exec wages to average wages is now in the hundreds of times. How much more do they need or desire? Thousands of times or maybe tens of thousands? How much is ENOUGH?

The 1% and the extreme Right call Obama a 'socialist' which is their code for 'Communist Dictator'. He may be the former, definitely NOT the latter. It's time for an end of Randianism and Reaganomics and time to return to fairness in wages and incomes. If that requires an end to Globalisation (the sacred cow of the Right) then so be it.