Quote Originally Posted by Lewkowski View Post
You would like a benevolent government to guide people to a better life.
Don't tell me what I would like. That's not only totally unnecessary to this discussion, the statement is also incorrect. The reality is that our nation faces problems that can't be solved by individuals exercising their rights in a free market. You know this, its why we have a military and a law & order system. But its not limited to national and personal safety. There's issues of public health as well and an extension of that is the environment, which is why we have the Clean Water act and the Clean Air Act. Beyond that there's economic competition to consider - the system of import duties and import security and consumer protections that keeps individuals safe and our economy safe from unfair foreign competition.

Somewhere in there is the reality that the rest of the world's economies, aided by their governments, are tooling up for the Next Big Thing, which is alternative energy and transportation. Its going to happen and the market isn't going to get us there. If we sit back and wait, we will not be able to compete, we will lose those opportunties to our competitors. THAT'S what HEV incentives - and wind and solar too - are all about. It's what investment in scientific research is all about. Without these things we'll end up a backwater economy.

The issue is - there will never be this Utopian "better" government that can guide people.
No, this has nothing to do with what I was talking about. I don't believe in Utopia. But I believe in a central government leveraging (some of) the collective resources of the nation to help guide and boost the private sector. Sometimes its very necessary.