^the fact that we went to war and found nothing is really a moot point......can't exactly take it back now can we? I think the main argument now should be how the operation was botched. We went looking for WMD and didn't find any, we are also searching for any terrorist cells in the area which may or may not have links to Al-Qaieda, oh yeah and we were supposed to murk Saddam. Have we eliminated some terrorists? A few. Did we kill Saddam? No, but we got his sons. Now Bush has to turn around and tuck his tail between his legs and ask the UN for support because we need money and aid. Yes we are the only country in an unstable region right now, our troops deserve the help. However, why should the UN help us, we were the ones who opted to go to war with or without their support. I don't blame Bush for everything that is bad in this country, and in regards to this war I think he had the American peoples best interest at heart, but i do think he jumped the gun. No the common citizen should not have War on the Ballot, but our leaders must take heed and understand that if they are going to take drastic action then we are going to want results. Bounce you are in the loop and better informed then most, but the average person dosen't like to come home to see troops dying in a country AFTER the conflict has been deemed resolved. That breeds a feeling of distrust and resentment.

As far as healthcare and such goes (i know you tried to get away from that bounce, sorry) the problem looks this way to me: The government is not directly responsible for the health care crisis right now. In my opinion the only thing that they have failed to do is come up with reasonable controls for the private sectors, namely insurance companies who underwrite malpractice insurance. Right now with a staggering amount of physicians being sued for malpractice, malpratice insurance rates have soared causing doctors to charge more. Companies who offer health care to their employees have opted to pass these increases on to workers (typical). This happens ever so often until major corporations such as GE strike and then the board of directors sometimes cut back upper managements salaries. The problem isn't so much that government isn't trying to provide dependable affordable health care, the problem is that our current system of health care is flawed. Caps for malpractice awarded has been proposed to eliminate this problem and has been adopted in some states, New York for example, now the issue becomes what dollar amount can we place on a human life?
These are tough questions that I know I can't answer, that's why I vote, like bounce said we have leaders to lead us, let them, don't complain unless you make your voice heard by taking advantage of the democratic process. Unlike bounce I am a leftist, I prefer a large government because face it the states are to "immature" to handle problems on their own, and bigger government dosen't neccesarily mean less privacy, at least not pertaining to your individual lives, it means that states won't be left to handle every situation on their own, and those who have wealth won't be able to sneak around and do things they don't want the rest of us to see!

I know bounce will probably pick this apart and tear my every argument to shreds but so be it I feel up to a good debate right now!