And to Jack Green: Milton Friedman was not a conservative. He was a liberal in the classic sense: for the rights and freedoms of the individual. He was certainly not a fan of today's version of liberalism! Neither would he necessarily be a fan of conservative ideology either.

It wasn't just republicans who "raped" (why do leftists love to use that word?). Both parties RAIDED the Social Security fund and used excess monies for pet projects. Those monies are still there...on paper. The money that is gone is the fault of Johnson (a Democrat) and Nixon (a Republican). Both took advantage of excess funds being paid into the system by the baby boom generation (until then all monies paid in we're being paid out in benefits) to INCREASE benefits to seniors well over and above the funds they and their employers had paid into the system. A second issue in that Roosevelt had the program designed to pay out benefits for 3-6 years, not for today's increased retirements of 15-30 years and more. Today's seniors receive every dime they and their employer paid in within 5 to 6 years of retirement. Until recently, NO congressional politician, neither democrat nor republican would seriously address this fiscal issue other than in slight increases in retirement age, we are close to bankruptcy in the Social Security entitlement program. Bush warned congress about the detriment if not addressing the issue and democrats stood up and booed him (few seem to remember this act of disrespect and yet when one congressman said "you lie" to Obama, the sky opened up!). So quit blaming republicans...they had a leader who at least tried to come up with something new (and something that has worked in other countries) and democrats, as well as many republicans wouldn't budge. Why? Because the senior vote means too much and even though current and soon-to-retire people wouldn't be affected, the scare tactics by liberals won out every time. Truth be damned.

Today's version of liberalism isn't the liberalism of Washington and or any other of our founding fathers. Original liberalism was a champion of the rights of the individual and mostly FREEDOM. Today's liberals are quite the opposite, especially in fiscal regards. Now the only thing they are truly liberal with, is other people's money. Liberals today are more about a reworking of Mao's Great Leap Forward movement than anything else. Their income redistribution stance is only the beginning. At the same time, the conservative Republican party has been hijacked itself by the Christian Right and they attempt to govern and control personal morals which is an antithesis to our constitution. Both parties actively work to rescind and restrict FREEDOM.