.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} No wonder the Tea Party folks are upset about socialism and – assuming we can get a good deal on uniforms – totalitarianism. We’ve made a commitment to throw money at people who don’t even contribute to the economy, people who expect a handout rather than taking care of themselves.

But enough about government pensions; we probably should be talking about health care.

It’s outrageous that our taxes should go to make life easier for people who aren’t even part of this great nation’s work force.

But forget Pell Grants; let’s zero in on health care.

We could go on with this gimmick until it gets annoying, unless we’ve passed that point already. It’s just a way of wondering why the health care debate focused so much on socialism.

In America, various government bodies shovel out farm payments, forgivable business loans, pensions for former government employees, heating bill assistance; education grants, historic tax credits, unemployment compensation, contracts for minority business owners, immigrant resettlement aid and ethanol subsidies.

Arguing about government interference in the free market – which includes health care – is like arguing about whether we really need argon in the atmosphere. It’s here. It’s not going away.

But opponents of the bill considered it a government takeover and didn’t seem to see any good in it at all.

How about the part that guarantees health insurance to more Americans? Even in a “majority rules” arrangement, it seems that we should share a few perks with the minority. Breathing, for instance. Compassion and socialism have some letters in common, but they really are two different things.

Some opponents of the bill were big on invoking the names of loathsome dictators. Hey, if you think Joe Stalin was tough on private enterprise, you should have seen how he kept the insurance pool to a reasonable size. All he had to cover was the cost of the ammunition.

Some say that subsidizing more health care coverage strays too far from our ideal of individual liberty. Give a man a fish and he will not only come back tomorrow for another one, he’ll demand tartar sauce.

Sure, we want everybody to contribute to society, work hard and cover their own needs. But layoffs do occur, random chance can be kind of unpredictable, and heart operations run into money even if you opt for “basic – no anesthesia.”

Look at the bright side of broader coverage. Having a healthier, more financially secure populace might help business. And don’t worry, the talented and determined will always be better off than the lazy slobs. Even a 2,400-page bill can’t change that.

So instead of worrying about the philosophical, let’s pour our worry into the practical. The Democrats contend that their plan is about to save us money. We’re never about to save money. America is an endless remodeling project, and every couple of weeks the contractor comes to the door and says, “Hey, it turns out the price of lumber has gone up …”

So, yes, we might as well expect a better country to be more expensive. The question is, how much are you willing to spend to help people you don’t know? How about people you don’t respect? It’s never easy having 300 million neighbors.

After the House of Representatives passed the health care reform bill, a writer compared it to the battle of Thermopylae, where management gave 300 Spartans the exciting career opportunity of fighting to the death. Like the Persians, he said, the Democrats have won the battle but will lose the war.

Maybe. But considering that we’re all in this together, I hope it’s a little more like Social Security and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Medicare. Things that looked like trouble but eventually became part of American life.

Big changes are called radical at the time; later on, we call them history.