And this concept, if applied to everything I'm talking about, is exactly what our Government is doing (on a grand scale) with our money!

So move somewhere else.

So no regulation is bad, and having regulation is bad.

No win.

This brings up another popular debate (also in regards to the tea parties). Profit. Profit is not a bad thing in the right place. Some take comfort that a doctor or surgeon is working for profit. Profit isn't evil. Most of us survive on profit, and its a necessary insensitive in most industries.

There are places for profit. Same for amount of regulation in the free market.

Government run entities and government regulation are different concepts. I'd like to see government regulation for a flyer's bill of rights for the airlines. I'd like to see less government run entities to attempt to fix problems.

I think what you are saying is there should be a happy medium for government regulation and private/for profit industry - which a majority of both sides would agree. These tea parties are the result of finding that medium.

I think the tea parties are all kinds of things to all kinds of people.

I agree profit isn't a bad thing, but I just heard an interesting statistic the other day. I do not remember the exact numbers, but in an argument for the public auction it was brought up that the largest (or maybe second largest) insurance company in the US had administrative budget that was about 25% of it's total budget. That meant 25% of the money people gave each month to the insurance company went to things that were not health care. On the other hand people talk about how wasteful beauracracies are, but Medicare (gov't run healthcare) has an administrative budget of only 2% of total costs.

I do agree with you, that regulation and administration are two very different things, and I believe there needs to be more regulation in areas like health insurance and the airline industry. But I think people don't realize that there are gov't run health systems already in place (Medicare, Medicaid, the VA). Are the perfect? No, some far from it, but at least they are more affordable. And I would happily buy into an affordable health care system that didn't turn me down when I needed help than they expensive system I have now that turns me down more often than accepts me when I need help.

America was taken off the Gold standard by FDR and the Silver Standard by Nixon. But the bad loan situation is what started the current mess. It really hasn't pulled out of it's tailspin either, the 'recovery" is just a thin shell, we will have to see what happens through this next year. Government getting involved though, will just extend the problem.

The US isn't a true Democracy by the way, It's a Republic. Leastways, that's how it was orginally designed. True Democracy is basically mob rule, kinda Like how France ended up with Napolean.

I admit that American tourists can be glareingly stupid and ignorant. They are generally really whiny here at home too....sigh.

Samurai007...that certain senator also utilzed Acorn to push sub prime loans through those same banks.

It depends. I think, as an average South Korean, American politics is a huge joke. You don't suppose to be too optimist in politics.

And huge failures as well. Like Communism.

Well, I wouldn't mind America turning undemocratic because 20th century political ideas are very limited.

more like a failed experiment.

To call America a "failed experiment" to me is the epitome of a close-minded statement.

Despite I used to live in America? Come on, America's politics has been stagnated since the end of the Cold War.

What are you talking about? Just look at how Obama stirred interest in American politics in not only the US but all over the world.

But even if politics in America were stagnated since the Cold War, how that makes the entire history of America a "failed experiment" is completely beyond me.