On another thread I mentioned that Conservatives wanted to eliminate Medicare and Social Security.  It was pointed out that I had taken the case to the extreme.  I agreed and asked what Conservatives would like in an ideal version of these (to my mind) basic rights.  Keep in mind that Social Security is supported by a payroll tax, and Medicare has a hefty contribution by recipients.

“Competition and choice” was the answer.

Well, Social Security was born of the failure of the economic system into which any “competitive” SS funds would be placed, and was created to be “secure”, not subject to the vagaries of those who manipulate Wall Street.   After all, Madoff was the choice of many seeking competitiveness.  As were Enron, WorldCom, etc. and so on.  Not too secure.

I asked how one would introduce “competitiveness and choice” into Medicare.  As a recipient I see a lot of competitiveness and choice, but I may be missing something.

I’d still be curious to know.