[QuestionBureaucracy]

What do we have to show for it? How about the MRI

As far as I know the MRI was not a gubmint invention. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating single payer. With what I pay in health insurance premiums (plus deductibles and co-pays) on top of what I pay in county, state, Federal, and sales, and the companies I hold stock in pay in taxes, I get half-way decent health care and an underfunded (well not as bad as in Canada)military and a bunch of worthless bureaucracy. I think the Aussies pay less than we do in taxes and they at least get some kind of national health care and their military is fairly decent. My comment was only attempting to compare value for the tax dollar paid - something that'll never be able to be done scientifically but something worth thinking about IMHO.

[Conservative til I die]

As far as I know the MRI was not a gubmint invention.

That's exactly my point. The private sector invented it as a response to a need, driven by a profit motive.

The government has absolutely no incentive to create any sort of cutting edge technology since it doesn't make a dollar either way. That and the fact in general government is incompetent at anything traditionally handled by the private sector.