Actually, what started out as a good idea ended up being the perfect vehicle for lobbyists and special interests. It used to be that it took Republicans two terms just to undo the spending of Democrats in one term of their control. Of course now it's irrelevant as they both spend, just in different ways.That is the problem with entitlements. Once you have them, you are never going to get rid of them. We have outgrown our system of gov't. But what is worse, we have lost control of our system of gov't. The very thing that is supposed to protect us, the slow and laborious nature of getting things done is ripe for exploitation by those with money. Politicians make the rules that allow them to solicit money. You can't get a program passed because you can't get rid of it, ever - even if it turns out OK.You'll notice that when WE install a gov't elsewhere, we install a parliamentary democracy. Why? Because it is better suited for the kind of agility needed in today's world. With special interest ripping us off and buying our elected officials, being able to dissolve gov't and kick the whole lot of them out is more powerful than what we are currently doing...and more effective. I think we need to add to the popular saying about democracy being the best thing we've got and run with it. A republic isn't as good as a Democracy. We would be better served by Republican states (not the party, but the system of gov't) and a parliamentary federal gov't, or vice-versa. Even with health care, the idea for the corporate interests is to stall it to the point of failure and have an opt-in/opt-out clause and then go after the states in the same manner of stalling.You can't buy influence that easily when a gov't can be dissolved or recalled at a moment's notice.