Open Letter to MMJ (Health Care Reform)

[Penny Lane]

At the risk of offending LoveDogg (begging your pardon already)  :)

Someone, a few posts ago, mentioned that no one was going to go and research the issue just b/c the band has a statement on their site.  I disagree.  I think a handful of the people who contributed to this thread probably did a little bit of digging to find out what was up and what was true.  You can get your ass handed to you fairly quickly around here for not knowing what it is that you're typing about.  (Yeah, I know Nikk...reliance on actual experience and facts is boring)
The links on the homepage have been changed to point to the actual government site for the bill and for contacting your rep.  So, this lame discussion may have actually had a positive effect.   :)

i've got your back NoVa. If you say stupid sh*t, prepare to defend it. NoI'm not talking facts about healthcare, but was what you posted even logical. I guess if you can't, divert everyone's attention w/smart ass references to obscure bands i guess.

[Nikkogino]

At the risk of offending LoveDogg (begging your pardon already)  :)

Someone, a few posts ago, mentioned that no one was going to go and research the issue just b/c the band has a statement on their site.  I disagree.  I think a handful of the people who contributed to this thread probably did a little bit of digging to find out what was up and what was true.  You can get your ass handed to you fairly quickly around here for not knowing what it is that you're typing about.  (Yeah, I know Nikk...reliance on actual experience and facts is boring)
The links on the homepage have been changed to point to the actual government site for the bill and for contacting your rep.  So, this lame discussion may have actually had a positive effect.   :)

i've got your back NoVa. If you say stupid sh*t, prepare to defend it. NoI'm not talking facts about healthcare, but was what you posted even logical. I guess if you can't, divert everyone's attention w/smart ass references to obscure bands i guess.

weezer isn't obscure?  so no weezer fans?

[Nikkogino]

weezer isn't obscure?  so no weezer fans?

I don't know. Rivers Cuomo speaks out about the Buddhist meditation that he does. I wish he would just shut up and sing "The Sweater Song."

"I'm not going to stop yelling because that would mean I lost the fight!" - Kenny Powers

[Penny Lane]

weezer isn't obscure?  so no weezer fans?

I don't know. Rivers Cuomo speaks out about the Buddhist meditation that he does. I wish he would just shut up and sing "The Sweater Song."

"I'm not going to stop yelling because that would mean I lost the fight!" - Kenny Powers

this thread is entertaining but you post like a 'dickhead'!  (sort of) =Kenny Powers

sorry, no weezer's not obscure, just a little terrible.

[AMightyCaporal]

also this...

The other side of the coin would be that Jim is a person who has his own voice and own opinions and he can use it any way he wants....so whatever.

My whole point is, it's cool that Jim agrees with Obamacare..it's cool if he doesn't.  However, I don't know why I should agree with Jim linking a "Support Obama Health Care Reform" website.  I wouldn't agree if he said "Vote for McCain...support his campaign"  I wouldn't agree if he said "Ban Gay Marriage...make your voice heard here."  I don't like it when bands post their political opinions on their website.  Why?  Because that's not why I go on the website.

It would be like going onto a sports team website and seeing "The Pittsburgh Steelers support Rhianna as the greatest vocalist of the year....go to her website and vote for her for the Kid's Choice Awards."

Point is, what is the point of Jim posting his PERSONAL beliefs on his BAND website?  It's not like someone is going to be listening to "Sec Walkin'" one afternoon and say, "wow, what's this about health care reform?????  I'm going to do some extensive research on the subject."  He isn't trying to raise thought on the subject....he is trying to get you to agree with his view of the subject--otherwise he'd have links to both sides.  I'm sorry....it is my belief that bands posting political opinions on their website is lame.  The band's view is liberal leaning...I must be a wacko conservative since I don't like seeing political junk on the homepage.  End of story.

I just want to point out that it doesn't say JIM supports (meaning he isn't posting HIS personal beliefs on the BANDS website)

The band is posting their beliefs on the bands website-

maybe its been a while since everyone has read the front page but I don't see any problems with what has been posted.

"MY MORNING JACKET SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE REFORM
My Morning Jacket is proud to support health care reform, and we encourage our friends, fans and family to make your voice heard and ask Congress to reform the health care system. In a society in which families are losing their homes due to high medical bills, premiums are rising 4 times faster than wages, and health care costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy today, whichever side of the aisle you vote for we can all agree that no person should be denied adequate health care simply because they cannot afford it. Click here to find out more about the issues and here for information on how to contact your local congressional representatives."


now they aren't saying OBAMACARE or anything they are saying

"Hey everyone, we think that the health care system is totally fucked right now, prices are way to high and we think its wrong to let so many people go uninsured or unprotected.  If you think so too, or want some more information go here- if you want to contact your congressional representative- here's how."

pretty simple I'd say.

[Nikkogino]

weezer isn't obscure?  so no weezer fans?

I don't know. Rivers Cuomo speaks out about the Buddhist meditation that he does. I wish he would just shut up and sing "The Sweater Song."

"I'm not going to stop yelling because that would mean I lost the fight!" - Kenny Powers

I think you lost the fight around page 12, dude.

alright man.

[crazywater]

I would be interested to know how many on the forum don't have health insurance because they choose not to and what their ages are?  And how you would feel if Dear Leader forced you to get it even if you didn't want it or face a financial penalty from the IRS if you refuse to purchase it.

I think the OP said perfectly...how gives a crap what MMJ thinks of Health Care reform....I only care that they are a great band in a sea of crappy ones.  Please don't screw it up by getting political.

[Nikkogino]

I would be interested to know how many on the forum don't have health insurance because they choose not to and what their ages are?  And how you would feel if Dear Leader forced you to get it even if you didn't want it or face a financial penalty from the IRS if you refuse to purchase it.

I think the OP said perfectly...how gives a crap what MMJ thinks of Health Care reform....I only care that they are a great band in a sea of crappy ones.  Please don't screw it up by getting political.

Haha, you can take the ball and run with this one.....I've already been beaten to death.  Watch out for Members Only and bear sin rug....they are feisty ones...they don't like to shake and end the discussion.  And make sure you have facts to support your opinion.  Because when you have a simple opinion, you have to have facts....or something.  ...have fun dawg.  I've said my piece.

P.S. -  You misspelled the word "who".....they are pretty critical of spelling errors on this thread.  Be careful.

[bear sin rug]

Please don't screw it up by getting political.

They are political.

Jim was going to perform at an Obama fund raiser before he got hurt.

Now they are advocating for health care reform on their web site.

They are political.

How do you not see this? It is crystal clear:    [size=16]They   are   political.[/size]

Do you understand?

[Penny Lane]

I would be interested to know how many on the forum don't have health insurance because they choose not to and what their ages are?  And how you would feel if Dear Leader forced you to get it even if you didn't want it or face a financial penalty from the IRS if you refuse to purchase it.

I think the OP said perfectly...how gives a crap what MMJ thinks of Health Care reform....I only care that they are a great band in a sea of crappy ones.  Please don't screw it up by getting political.

people who don't have health insurance (because they choose not to, because they can't afford it, because they are in this country illegally, etc) drive up the price for everyone else!!

[el_chode]

[Penny Lane]

i thought it was a pretty good speech; i'm surprised he still pushed so strongly for the govt option (although mentioned it wouldn't touch medicare trust fund dollars) to please dems but then left a little bit of an OUT when he said he'd consider other options to please the repubs.

[Ruckus]

I would be interested to know how many on the forum don't have health insurance because they choose not to and what their ages are?  And how you would feel if Dear Leader forced you to get it even if you didn't want it or face a financial penalty from the IRS if you refuse to purchase it.

I think the OP said perfectly...how gives a crap what MMJ thinks of Health Care reform....I only care that they are a great band in a sea of crappy ones.  Please don't screw it up by getting political.

people who don't have health insurance (because they choose not to, because they can't afford it, because they are in this country illegally, etc) drive up the price for everyone else!!

So do hypochondriacs that have health insurance.  It astounds me that some of the same people that oppose reform and believe if you can't afford it, you shouldn't have it also have no problem going to the doctor for everything and getting pills for everything while some of us only go when absolutely necessary.  Those people really piss me off!

[EAZYE]

Can I ask a question?  I want to know how my life would change if something new happens.  I'll be the first to admit I don't follow politics very closely at all so that's why I'm asking yall.  And I would like to hear from both sides of the coin.

I'm 29, in good health, work for a big company, that provides health insurance to all full-time employees.  Have never really used my health insurance except for when I go get my teeth cleaned.  How does my life change if the current health care system is changed?  Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

Eric

[Nikkogino]

Can I ask a question?  I want to know how my life would change if something new happens.  I'll be the first to admit I don't follow politics very closely at all so that's why I'm asking yall.  And I would like to hear from both sides of the coin.

I'm 29, in good health, work for a big company, that provides health insurance to all full-time employees.  Have never really used my health insurance except for when I go get my teeth cleaned.  How does my life change if the current health care system is changed?  Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

Eric

It depends on what they pass....we still don't know if a public option is on the table.  Many are afraid of a public option for the following reasons:

a) The government sucks at running programs period.

b) Although they say that a private option will still exist, private insurance companies will have a hard time competing with the public option and will most likely go out of businesses (due to the fact that the government doesn't have to make a profit while private insurance will).  Although this has been disputed by Obama, many Democrat congressmen have bragged that the public option would ultimately run the private insurance companies under.  

c) Companies that offer private insurance will most likely drop private insurance since health care will in a sense be "free" to their employees with the public option and although they will be charged a "penalty" by the government for doing so, this penalty will have less of an impact than the savings they will receive by dropping private insurance.

Although the President is not lying when he says "If you like your insurance, you can keep it" it isn't really up to you.  If the company you work for drops it to save money, you are left with paying for your own private insurance (which is expensive as shit when your employer isn't paying the bill) or getting on the public option (which will most likely suck ass).

The Republicans are spreading a lot of lies about old people being killed and blah blah blah, but the Democrats are being deceptive as well.  Although Obama likes to act like the Republicans are whining without coming up with any ideas, they have presented a few bills that have been shot down immediately.  This is partisan politics as usual from both sides...don't let Obama's "I want both sides to come together with their ideas" bullshit fool you.  He wanted to rush his shit through last month so he could avoid any kind of debate.

In short, if you work for a corporation or small business that pays for your health insurance (or a portion of it), you have a high chance of losing your current plan if a public option is voted on.  Think about it--if you were a corporation whose sales were down and you were laying off employees left and right, would you pay for premium private insurance (which accounts for a HIGH portion of a company's overhead) if the government was giving it away for free?  And how is a private insurer supposed to compete with an entity that does not need to make a profit?  Unless you want the government controlling everything you do in your life, it would be good of you to look down upon any sort of public option.

Note:  Both sides of the aisle are leaning away from the public option currently (thank god).  Congress also spent a few hours the other day voting to punish the dude who yelled "You Lie" to Obama.  Great way to waste the taxpayers time and money.  I love politics.    BTW, one of the other boardies will copy and paste something from Obama's site in a few minutes to counter my opinion above.  Keep in mind, I work for a company (my job is to save money) and the topic of benefits comes up very often as it is expensive as crap to insure millions of people.  I know for a fact that corporations would drop private insurance in a heartbeat to stay afloat. You'd better hope Obamacare is good......it'd be the first time the government ever did something remotely well.
Remember, the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

(MODS---SINCE THIS IS TURNING INTO A DEBATE ON HEALTH CARE, WE SHOULD HAVE THIS MOVED TO THE "ALL THINGS NON-MMJ FORUM")

[NoVa_NoLa]

EazyE asked:

 How does my life change if the current health care system is changed?  Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

Eric

Nik replied:

It depends on what they pass....we still don't know if a public option is on the table.  Many are afraid of a public option for the following reasons:

a) The government sucks at running programs period.

Nice blanket statement, but not always true.  Public transit, public schools -- particularly colleges and universities, public [insert your favorite public service here] are, in large part, quite successfully managed.

I come from a military family and have a healthy distrust of the gov't, but you have to give credit where credit is due.

b) Although they say that a private option will still exist, private insurance companies will have a hard time competing with the public option and will most likely go out of businesses (due to the fact that the government doesn't have to make a profit while private insurance will).  Although this has been disputed by Obama, many Democrat congressmen have bragged that the public option would ultimately run the private insurance companies under.  

Umm, you don't happen to have any proof that would back up your claim about Congressmen bragging about running private insurers out of business do you?  Please post whatever you've got on that.  I haven't heard/seen anything like that -- maybe I missed it.

For all the talk about competition, this notion that the gov't will run all the private insurers out of business is silly.  What?  They're all just going to through in the towel if there's a public option?  I don't think so.  I think they'll try to compete.  Without knowing any details of a public plan, the closest analogy is medicare.  Both of my parents are eligible.  They had a choice: private insurance or medicare: One accepted, one did not.  Both are happy.

c) Companies that offer private insurance will most likely drop private insurance since health care will in a sense be "free" to their employees with the public option and although they will be charged a "penalty" by the government for doing so, this penalty will have less of an impact than the savings they will receive by dropping private insurance.

I think there's a modicum of fact here. There will be some sort of penalty for companies that drop (a dis-incentive for companies to drop) their current options.

Although the President is not lying when he says "If you like your insurance, you can keep it" it isn't really up to you.  If the company you work for drops it to save money, you are left with paying for your own private insurance (which is expensive as shit when your employer isn't paying the bill) or getting on the public option (which will most likely suck ass).

The Republicans are spreading a lot of lies about old people being killed and blah blah blah, but the Democrats are being deceptive as well.  Although Obama likes to act like the Republicans are whining without coming up with any ideas, they have presented a few bills that have been shot down immediately.  This is partisan politics as usual from both sides...don't let Obama's "I want both sides to come together with their ideas" bullshit fool you.  He wanted to rush his shit through last month so he could avoid any kind of debate.

Yikes, I agree with something here!  ;)  I do think it was a mistake to try to rush this.  I have heard the Repubs. whining that no one is using their ideas or listening to them.  And I guess that's why so many of them are still out there talking about federal abortion dollars. ::)  

If they have such good ideas (they are currently not supporting fellow repubs. McCain or Hatch's proposals), they shouldn't just walk away from the table.  They could get them published or put them on a website (so that you could then have something to copy and paste).

I think Obama's biggest mistake was going to the Repubs. in the first place seeking a compromise.  Personally, I don't think they want a compromise.  I just think they want to defeat this to hand Obama a set back.

In short, if you work for a corporation or small business that pays for your health insurance (or a portion of it), you have a high chance of losing your current plan if a public option is voted on.  Think about it--if you were a corporation whose sales were down and you were laying off employees left and right, would you pay for premium private insurance (which accounts for a HIGH portion of a company's overhead) if the government was giving it away for free?  And how is a private insurer supposed to compete with an entity that does not need to make a profit?  Unless you want the government controlling everything you do in your life, it would be good of you to look down upon any sort of public option.

Umm, you may not have noticed, but premiums are sky high and getting higher every year.  Corporations are laying off employees left and right.  Your doomsday scenario is happening right now.  The only difference is that people are being left with out any option but being un-insured.  They're going to emergency rooms for care -- that's not exactly cheap.  And when they don't have money to pay, ultimately who pays the bill?

And again, the gov't is already competing with private companies in several areas.  Which of those industries is failing b/c of competition from the gov't?

Note:  Both sides of the aisle are leaning away from the public option currently (thank god).  Congress also spent a few hours the other day voting to punish the dude who yelled "You Lie" to Obama.  Great way to waste the taxpayers time and money.  I love politics.    BTW, one of the other boardies will copy and paste something from Obama's site in a few minutes to counter my opinion above.  Keep in mind, I work for a company (my job is to save money) and the topic of benefits comes up very often as it is expensive as crap to insure millions of people.  I know for a fact that corporations would drop private insurance in a heartbeat to stay afloat. You'd better hope Obamacare is good......it'd be the first time the government ever did something remotely well.
Remember, the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

::)

For what's it's worth, I wouldn't have even bothered to reply if you had presented your response as opinion and not fact.  And, for what it's worth, I think it's a good idea to be able to back up what you say (opinion or not) with a little fact.  So who ever wants to go to the health reform bill site and copy things -- have at it.  Nothing like facts to get things going!

I think the public option will be preserved.  Without it, I think the perception will be that the Dems. lost.   As for the dumbbell who managed to embarrass himself and his party (oddly, apparently he feels that Obama is lying, but when any one else makes the same statement that Obama made regarding illegals, they are not lying.  Now there's a good representative for your hard earned tax dollars!), that was two hours well-spent.  

As for EazyE's question, I am in a similar position as you and don't use my insurance much. My guess is that my costs are going to increase and my care will be the same (same = waiting a month and a half for a biopsy appt. with a PPO plan).

(MODS---SINCE THIS IS TURNING INTO A DEBATE ON HEALTH CARE, WE SHOULD HAVE THIS MOVED TO THE "ALL THINGS NON-MMJ FORUM")

Given that a member of MMJ recently suffered a horrible accident and had to deal with Lord only knows what type of battles for care and that musicians often go without insurance and care, I think that there is still a small relevant connection between this exchange of ideas and the band.  :)

[the_wizzard]

In short, if you work for a corporation or small business that pays for your health insurance (or a portion of it), you have a high chance of losing your current plan if a public option is voted on.  Think about it--if you were a corporation whose sales were down and you were laying off employees left and right, would you pay for premium private insurance (which accounts for a HIGH portion of a company's overhead) if the government was giving it away for free?  And how is a private insurer supposed to compete with an entity that does not need to make a profit?  Unless you want the government controlling everything you do in your life, it would be good of you to look down upon any sort of public option.

As a partner in a small business, who pays the bills nonetheless, I can tell you that my employee's are far more likely to lose their insurance benefit if reform does not happen.  There have been 20% increases each year for the last 10 years I have worked there.  We wholeheartedly believe that it is a moral obligation to provide insurance for our full-time employees (after only 3 months of being with the company too), and I can tell you we want to do this forever.  However, we used to pay for it all.  We now can't do that and ask for a minor before tax contribution.  But without reform my friends, we just can't justify payroll raises and keep paying the ridiculous health insurance premiums at this rate.  That is the reality.  Reform is necessary.

[bear sin rug]

Remember, the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

Almost a "healthy" discussion on health care reform until this typical bullshit.

Really, the government is not supposed to serve you, they're just supposed to "represent" you?

My friend, when your house catches on fire, how do you want the government to "represent" you?

When you need fresh water at your home to prepare meals, bathe, flush the toilet, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, etc... how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When someone is breaking into your house and stealing your TV, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When the population needs an education, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When we are being threatened and invaded by foreign hostility, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to drop a letter in a box at the end of your driveway to be taken somewhere 100's of miles away, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want your trash taken away from your house, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When there's a tornado or flood or fire and 1,000's of acres of land and property are damaged, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to go throw frisbee in the park, do you think that some angel keeps the grass cut and the trash picked up?

When your street has potholes or a street light is out, do you think some group of hard working gnomes that roams the nation doing good deeds just fixes that shit while you sleep at night?

When you're sailing out to sea and having to use aids to navigation (i.e. buoys) do you think some friendly seal or whale keeps those things where they're supposed to be?

I could go on and on and on...

Now, can you wrap your brain around what our country would be like if we followed your logic and the government did not serve us?

Start with the basics Enrique: the government SERVES the population. I don't know if you have ever used any of the above services (again, that SERVE word) but in many instances they do a good job.

It's this simple minded part of the health care reform debate that's so dangerous. Some moron says, "the government is there to represent you...not serve you," and then other morons agree (without second thought) and it snowballs and lo-and-behold you got a protest and anger about "government serving people" when government has always served people and done a pretty good job. Medicare? Heard of it?

The boogeyman isn't going to take your health care away from you.  :-/

[Nikkogino]

Remember, the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

Almost a "healthy" discussion on health care reform until this typical bullshit.

Really, the government is not supposed to serve you, they're just supposed to "represent" you?

My friend, when your house catches on fire, how do you want the government to "represent" you?

When you need fresh water at your home to prepare meals, bathe, flush the toilet, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, etc... how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When someone is breaking into your house and stealing your TV, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When the population needs an education, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When we are being threatened and invaded by foreign hostility, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to drop a letter in a box at the end of your driveway to be taken somewhere 100's of miles away, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want your trash taken away from your house, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When there's a tornado or flood or fire and 1,000's of acres of land and property are damaged, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to go throw frisbee in the park, do you think that some angel keeps the grass cut and the trash picked up?

When your street has potholes or a street light is out, do you think some group of hard working gnomes that roams the nation doing good deeds just fixes that shit while you sleep at night?

When you're sailing out to sea and having to use aids to navigation (i.e. buoys) do you think some friendly seal or whale keeps those things where they're supposed to be?

I could go on and on and on...

Now, can you wrap your brain around what our country would be like if we followed your logic and the government did not serve us?

Start with the basics Enrique: the government SERVES the population. I don't know if you have ever used any of the above services (again, that SERVE word) but in many instances they do a good job.

It's this simple minded part of the health care reform debate that's so dangerous. Some moron says, "the government is there to represent you...not serve you," and then other morons agree (without second thought) and it snowballs and lo-and-behold you got a protest and anger about "government serving people" when government has always served people and done a pretty good job. Medicare? Heard of it?

The boogeyman isn't going to take your health care away from you.  :-/

You are right...Maybe I should have said "Federal Government"....most of the things you named are county government functions.  My point is that I believe in a smaller, less in-your-face version of the Federal Government.  I am perfectly fine with state and local government functions as I believe that states should have more power and the Federal government should have less power when it comes to a citizen's everyday life.  I don't want the U.S. government selling me cars and running my health-care plan.

I think the only two examples above that were Federal government functions were the military and the post office.  I do believe in a strong U.S. government....although I would separate our military from being part of the government.  It is comprised of US citizens to defend our nation...something no one disagrees with.   However, I have no choice when it comes to putting a letter in the mail.  I'd actually rather have a private option for that.  When it comes to packages, you can trust that I will not use the U.S. Postal Service......unless I want my package to arrive a year and a half later.

P.S.- How long did it take for you to come up with all of your examples?

[bear sin rug]

Remember, the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

Almost a "healthy" discussion on health care reform until this typical bullshit.

Really, the government is not supposed to serve you, they're just supposed to "represent" you?

My friend, when your house catches on fire, how do you want the government to "represent" you?

When you need fresh water at your home to prepare meals, bathe, flush the toilet, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, etc... how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When someone is breaking into your house and stealing your TV, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When the population needs an education, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When we are being threatened and invaded by foreign hostility, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to drop a letter in a box at the end of your driveway to be taken somewhere 100's of miles away, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want your trash taken away from your house, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When there's a tornado or flood or fire and 1,000's of acres of land and property are damaged, how do you want your government to "represent" you?

When you want to go throw frisbee in the park, do you think that some angel keeps the grass cut and the trash picked up?

When your street has potholes or a street light is out, do you think some group of hard working gnomes that roams the nation doing good deeds just fixes that shit while you sleep at night?

When you're sailing out to sea and having to use aids to navigation (i.e. buoys) do you think some friendly seal or whale keeps those things where they're supposed to be?

I could go on and on and on...

Now, can you wrap your brain around what our country would be like if we followed your logic and the government did not serve us?

Start with the basics Enrique: the government SERVES the population. I don't know if you have ever used any of the above services (again, that SERVE word) but in many instances they do a good job.

It's this simple minded part of the health care reform debate that's so dangerous. Some moron says, "the government is there to represent you...not serve you," and then other morons agree (without second thought) and it snowballs and lo-and-behold you got a protest and anger about "government serving people" when government has always served people and done a pretty good job. Medicare? Heard of it?

The boogeyman isn't going to take your health care away from you.  :-/

You are right...Maybe I should have said "Federal Government"....most of the things you named are county government functions.  My point is that I believe in a smaller, less in-your-face version of the Federal Government.  I am perfectly fine with state and local government functions as I believe that states should have more power and the Federal government should have less power when it comes to a citizen's everyday life.  I don't want the U.S. government selling me cars and running my health-care plan.

I think the only two examples above that were Federal government functions were the military and the post office.  I do believe in a strong U.S. government....although I would separate our military from being part of the government.  It is comprised of US citizens to defend our nation...something no one disagrees with.   However, I have no choice when it comes to putting a letter in the mail.  I'd actually rather have a private option for that.  When it comes to packages, you can trust that I will not use the U.S. Postal Service......unless I want my package to arrive a year and a half later.

P.S.- How long did it take for you to come up with all of your examples?

I generated the list and cut and pasted it from another message board where some conservative robot, regurgitating the fear laden rants of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh, stated: the government is there to represent you...not serve you.

You can't really argue the details until you have the facts.