Thom,

Why doesn't anyone say it? The idea of Comprehensive Social Services as a matter of State policy began with a Social Conservative, Otto von Bismarck. Briefly stated, as I undersand it, he thought that the Empire was obliged to ensure the basic welfare of its citizens. Okay, they had to pay into the system, and there was an upper limit to what the State could offer. Beyond that, of course, the private insurers came in offering what the basic plan could not provide.

The neo-Cons and Libertarians are selling a dream where nobody is ever injured at any time, nobody ever gets sick, literally, nothing is "unexpected", and if that happens, well . . . you become another statistic in a Social Darwinian Paradise. Most people understand the fallacy of that arguement, even the yournger folks come into the campaign realizing the need for a govenment infrastructure that covers the b basic needs of the population. So . . . except for the crazies who live in a world that doesn't exist, most Americans understand that the results of "rugged individualism" is chaos and the break down of a civil society starting from the local level and everything beyond.