From: "Billy Brown" <bbrown@conemsco.com>
>I recommend Charles Murray's "Loosing Ground" if you are
>interested in the details. Based on past experience, however, we
>can safely say that:
>1) If you have a program that provides anyone who signs up with
>food, clothing and a place to live, at least 10% of the population
>will end up living on it.
>2) If such a program exists, there will be a constant pressure to
>increase the benefits and remove any restrictions on who can
>benefit.
>3) There is no such thing as cheap, basic medical care. If you
>want government medical care, even for a minority of the
>population, you face a very unpleasant choice. You can either
>tell people they are going to die because you won't pay for a
>treatment that would save them, or you design a program that will
>bankrupt the public treasury.
Brian
Member, Extropy Institute
www.extropy.org