When Governments Spend Wealth Instead of Building It

“The US seems to have gotten the worst of it,” said a French friend this morning. We were taken aback. Everyone knows Europe is in a state of permanent crisis. The US seems solid by comparison, no?
“Now that the Supreme Court has approved Obamacare, you have the same problems we have in Europe, social welfare spending with no limits…plus you have your colossal military spending. You have both ‘bread and circuses,’ just like the ancient Romans. You are doomed.”
Yes, dear reader, we came to the fork in the road after the 9/11 attack. And the government took it!
And now the feds can fork over whoever and whatever they want. No kidding. They just have to think of it as a tax. Here’s the AP’s report on yesterday’s decision:

Health care law survives with Roberts’ help

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s historic health care overhaul, certain now to touch virtually every citizen’s life, narrowly survived an election-year battle at the Supreme Court Thursday with the improbable help of conservative Chief Justice John Roberts.

But the ruling, by a 5-4 vote, also gave Republicans unexpected ammunition to energize supporters for the fall campaign against President Barack Obama, the bill’s champion and for next year’s vigorous efforts to repeal the law as a new federal tax.

Roberts’ vote, along with those of the court’s four liberal justices, preserved the largest expansion of the nation’s social safety net in more than 45 years, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly everyone have health insurance or pay a penalty. The aim is to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who now are uninsured.

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