Artful Dodger:

> I think they did think of it. I don't think the US Government has any business operating outside of their Constitutional mandate.
> And since we know from history what the Founders were against, we ought to pay attention to that.

I think that all governments suffer from a contradiction between what they preach and what they do. If modern capitalist governments were to truly follow "free market" economics, the government would have no contracts for private companies at all. The entire industrial-military complex would have to be dismantled, and so would construction contracts, healthcare contracts, etc. If the government did not "outsource" all the things they do, companies would have to fend for themselves. Imagine boeing or Lockheed-Martin without the defense contracts. GE, General Dynamics, Haliburton, etc. They would all lose billions in revenue, and tax payers would save billions in deficits. It is a problem that extends beyond healthcare or banking. It is almost every aspect of the economy.