The point I was making, Ma R, is threefold: First, this is not the "unprecedented" expansion of federal power that its detractors make it out to be. Did the government take over every aspect of American life after the enactment of Social Security in 1935? Did we even dictate all retirement planning for all citizens, or do most rely on supplementing the guaranteed stipend of SS with 401k's, pensions, or IRAs? Do we tell everyone what they can spend their SS checks on every month, or can they use them to make car payments, buy food, pay the mortgage, or as my grandmother did, set aside every payment for seven years as a legacy to leave her grandchildren in a trust fund? It's a ridiculous argument. Did the wheat or dairy decisions of the '30s result in the collapse of the comodities markets and the imposition of socialism?

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich