I am not sure if the average American has always been as woefully ignorant of how our economy works as they are today. But if so, it's amazing that our country hasn't collapsed economically.  We live in a representative democracy of universal adult suffrage. The problem with unqualified voter rights is that those who don't produce or even know anything about the economy can essentially vote in representatives who will confiscate from the producers to give to themselves.

You can almost see it: America 2103, the congress, after a close 51% to 49% a new law stating that the top 10% must  subsidize summer cottages on lakes for the lower 90% of people. "It's about time those rich bastards pay their fair share. Why should rich people be the only ones with summer homes? Who made them better than us?"

Right now it's tax time at work and we're going to be paying quite a bit in taxes. "Most rich people and companies don't even pay taxes, look at Enron!"  The problem with that thinking is that it's completely wrong. Sure, you can find sensational examples of some individual or company that's managed to get rich and not pay taxes. But that's why it's news -- it's an unusual occurrence.  The vast majority of businesses and individuals operate pretty transparently and pay taxes. Lots of taxes. 

During the conversation, my friend had little sympathy for the taxes we pay. "Hey, you should be paying big taxes, you're making a lot of money. Thanks to your Republican buddies, a lot of people are without jobs and they need help."  To this I said, "Wouldn't it be better for companies like ours to keep as much of that money as possible so that we could hire more people? The taxes we paid cost us 3 jobs. That's how many people we would have hired if we didn't have to pay as much in taxes."

And here's where it became surreal, he responded: "Oh so you buy into that trickle down crap, Reagan tried it and Bush Jr. is trying it. It doesn't work." 

Bullshit. I am not espousing some egg head "theory". I'm living the reality. The taxes we are paying this year cost 3 jobs. It's purely a matter of budget. We need 3 more people but we cannot afford 3 people.  We have a perfect candidate in mind for a technical advisor position here and another person in mind for an animator position. Would be great to have them. But we can't afford them. Why? Because the government took that money. And what are they doing with it? 60% of it goes to various redistribution of wealth programs (social security, medicaid, medicare eat up the majority of that).

And now people want to expand this for prescription drugs? My friend explained why we "need" prescription drug coverage. Everyone knows someone who has to have some $400 prescription drug "to live". And it's "those damn greedy drug companies" that are to blame of course. Amazingly, people lived without prescription drugs for thousands of years.  Yes yes, I know, people didn't live as long back then. But rather than being thankful that the drug companies are coming up with these wonder drugs, we villainize them.  Think about that: these drugs allegedly make the difference between life and death -- that is, before these drugs we must assume that these people would have died. That's what the people who "need" these drugs claim anyway. Therefore, the "greedy" drug companies have created things that are saving a lot of people's lives. But because they want to be paid for them, and paid well, they're "greedy".

Personally, I find those who demand that other people pay for their stuff to be a helluva lot more greedy.  The people I know who scream for prescription drug coverage can somehow afford cable TV, air conditioning, and certainly don't look malnourished.  And they want those free pills. But they're not greedy of course. It's the drug companies who are greedy. It's the "Rich" people who pay for the prescription drugs for them who are greedy. It's the companies who employ everyone who are greedy. But not them. No, never. They just want something for nothing. They don't want to sacrifice anything for it. They don't want to ask their kids to help pay for it.

Instead, they'll get faceless people and companies to pay for their pills. And as a result, at least here, 3 people who might have had jobs, don't.