LTE: How socialism works

Dear Editor: The new slogan this week is “Medicare for all.” Or, “Free child care for all.” Or “Free bus rides for all.” Or “Free homes for the homeless.”

The estimate on free Medicare is about $4.5 trillion per year or approximately $20,000 per year for every person who files a tax return, after they have confiscated most of the wealth from the trillionaires and billionaires. The plan is currently to leave millionaires alone because that would include most of the politicians. Medicare, up until now, has always been “pay to play.” Social Security started out that way also before the politicians figured out how to get their hands on it. They have since stolen $2 trillion from that fund.

The estimate to start government owned grocery stores In NYC is just over $70 million for start up costs. The estimated annual cost for Welfare at its inception was $3.94 billion (source: Google). Can anyone out there tell me of a government program that started on budget? Just one program. Our politicians just love to help people, especially with other people’s money. It makes them feel special. They believe they have the divine right to take our money to fund their charities. They call this taxing for compassionate programs not spelled out in the Constitution. The fact is, they are not special. And, once they take our money, other thieves have no qualms restealing it. Some examples would be: The Minnesota LEARNING Center, California hospice centers, Free rides to Dr. appointments or literally dozens of other failed programs. Not only is there no oversight, in California, they want to outlaw reporting on this fraud. Also, no one has even put a price on any of these programs.

The next approach will be to reopen the borders and restructure the Government and abolish the Constitution if the left ever gets near power again. This would be followed by more government jobs to solve all the newly created problems. A good example of this would be the Los Angeles Homeless Czar. His reported salary is in the $400,000 per year range and after two years, he has overseen the doubling of the homeless problem.

This would naturally be followed by nationalization of industry. Despite all of the arguments for this, it would probably have to happen by force. It would be a disaster. It has been tried many times and it has always ended in total failure. There are many reasons for this. The new elite first has to get rid of the industrial managers, and replace them with their cronies as rewards. This has ALWAYS led to the collapse of industrial function. It also terminates their flow of money necessary to keep their promises. This is where and when the guns come in. (This used to be taught in 8th grade social studies).

Joseph Shortino

Owego, New York