As we celebrate July 4th this weekend, do you think America's best days are in the past or yet to come?

So this is WBT's healthcare coverage...? A few minutes of a story of someone who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifesaving healthcare and now needs more...and his insurance won't cover it now...I've never heard something so one sided...this is the perfect argument for WBT to do in depth stories on this issue...they've not begun to discuss this...does Al think that the solution is the Canadian plan where you can't even get life saving coverage because its not offered or takes months of waiting to get. Al says that this shouldn't be in the greatest country on the face of the earth...is Al's solution to have only taxpayers pays for everyone else's healthcare and thus have their freedom taken to pay for other's insurance. Is it Constitutional or is this just an emotional argument? Again, this is why this issue is so complicated. Where, by the way is WBT's story on the staged healthcare town hall? I haven't heard that yet...maybe I missed it.

The glory that was the United States of America has faded into obscurity. This is not the same country that I immigrated to over a half century ago. Unfortunately many citizens of this once great country have traded opportunity for security. They no longer believe or want to strive to achieve the most of their ability but instead choose the mediocre road of a nanny state where the government will provide for their basic needs. Individual responsibility has been replaced by collective greed. Yes, greed! It is not those that achieve and expect to receive the fruits of their labors the ones that are greedy...it is the other leeches that demand from others that which they refuse to work for themselves. This once-great nation provided the wealth that lifted other nations from poverty and squalor but is now a hollow shell of itself borrowing more and more in a vain attempt to continue its existence. Led not by statesmen with a vision of greatness but politicians who promise everything to everybody for their only goal and desire is for reelection. ......As I once traveled around the world I was proud to tell people that I was an American, a citizen of the greatest country in the world. Others would ask me about this country, the opportunities it provided and their desire to come here and be allowed the opportunity to achieve, to raise their families free of government intervention. What could I tell them today? How we are more divided than ever? How class envy is the process our politicians use to keep being reelected? How achievement is punished to provide for those that refuse to achieve? How confiscatory taxes and fees are attached on property in order to "share the wealth"? What do I now have to be proud of?

Nicknack is right. Thanks to some really brave and wise forefathers we were given a country unique in the world, where anybody and everybody could achieve. Everyday our precious freedoms are being eroded and the worse part is our citizens neither see it or understand it. Populist demands fueled by pandering politicians overwhelm the government, and quietly steal the wealth and future of our nation. Lastly, we have turned our intellect away from the philosophies of our forefathers to that left wing Socialists who hate the very freedoms that are the foundation of America. Our educators spew hatred of America, its freedoms, its history, its wealth to our children from kindergarten to graduate school. We no longer revere what made the greatest, fairest and most exceptional nation in history. Read the first few pages of Gibbons "the decline and fall of Rome" ...and it is a chilling endictment of us.

I have never been as proud of America as I am today. There are so many things in our history that we can't be proud of, but our strength has always been that we eventually do the right thing. Think about slavery, denying women the right to vote, civil rights. The list goes on. Yet, all of those blemishes have been corrected, and we continue to move toward a better future. Our progress is not a straight line – sometimes we dip down and go off course. Long-term, though, we get it right.

America is no longer a super power nation as we once proud to be. Yes we have made progress in different areas, I also see that we are going backward in many areas as well. My life's experience helps me to see in a different light than many other Americans. As a young girl at 15, my family migrated here from Vietnam. I did not live under the Communist regime like many of my relatives but I can tell you their stories. Many members of our family from both sides were farmers and lived a humble life within their means. Day in and day out, they provided the fruits of their labor to sell to the market from the small lands they've once owned. Their lives had changed forever after the fall of South Vietnam, their rights to farm and fish on their own lands no longer exist. Many were told, especially those had done well fo themselves, to share their wealth with others, they lost all what they were once proud to have made for themselves and families. They lost their freedom to worship, education. Many churches and santuaries and private schools were forced to close. Those who had tied with previous regime or the military were forced to be in "re-educating" prisons for many years, where they recived harsh treatments. Worse of all, they lost all their dignity as human. Many end up committed suicide as the last result. Unfortunately, the government and those who have ties with them did not have to subject to the same treatment. They never had to deny their rights, they live well above their means. They have the priority over everyone else from getting good jobs, to good healthcare to any freedom which they themselves can have.
Parhaps, certain things have not got this bad here as in Vietnam. I see many similarities that are slowly happening here. Redistributing of the wealth, universal healthcare, where the government are now trying to force people into their mold. You will be fined $1000 or more if you chose not to have healthcare, the rich have to pay for the poor. You have to pay for everyone else, but they don't have to according to the Kennedy's healthcare. Today, I read the news, there are two private universities are now banning the "Repupblican's Club" in their school and the list goes on and on...
As we celebrate the Fourth, I thank God for certain freedom we still have, I also hope and pray that America will not lose it all what we once called home of free, land of the brave.

This question separates conservatives from progressives. Conservatives live in the past, think everything was better back then, and believe we are going to hell in a hand basket. Progressives belittle the past and want to change everything. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. I like some of our traditions and miss things from my childhood, but I also like that young people continue to be restless and push the envelope. In the end I am an optimist and believe in a better future for everyone.

I love the way that Liberals have suddenly changed their moniker to "progressives". As if they are no longer left leaning but instead forge ahead. Same bull, different name. No Christine, conservatives do not live in the past. Conservatives believe in the natural ability of the individual to become whatever their abilities will allow them to become. We believe in "from each according to their ability, to each according to their ability". We just don't believe in robbing Peter to pay Paul. This Robin Hood mentality is driving us so far into debt that we don't see a way out unless there are fundamental changes back to the basics as far as government is concerned. Government does not exist to furnish us with all that we want. Government exists to provide us with the freedoms to individually achieve whatever we want. Even the present white house realizes that we are in deep trouble with our ever expansive spending, and I quote:

" "We are on an utterly unsustainable fiscal course," said the White House budget director, Peter Orszag.

Some budget-restraint activists claim even the debt understates the nation's true liabilities.

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figures does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments.

That would put the nation's full obligations at $56 trillion, or roughly $184,000 per American, according to this calculation."

......How many of us can afford the tax bill that would be required to get us out of debt? This spending is simply not sustainable and can drive the country into bankruptcy.

Loafer, liberal or progressive, it does not really matter. Those are just templates we use to make our lives easier. We try to look for simple patterns and then take the shortcut to a conclusion. It's not smart, but it's easy. Anyway, it is clear that we are on an unsustainable path fiscally. That's why we need higher taxes and less spending on the military. I find that people generally don't disagree about how much the government spends. Hell, most people have no idea how much money a trillion Dollars really is, right? People usually disagree what the money is spent on. Some people emphasize the "common defense" part of the Constitution while others prefer the "general welfare" part. Some like the "ensure justice" and others insist on "domestic tranquility". In order to sort out what needs to receive attention we have elections. Elections have consequences, and now we are trying to figure out how to pay for all the things we want. For that matter, assuming your numbers and calculations are correct, I don't think $184,000 is a whole lot of money. That's barely more than the median value of homes in the United States. Many of us have mortgages far exceeding that. So, like I said, we need higher taxes, and we need to spend less on non-productive things like wars. I am willing and able to pay higher taxes, as are millions of other Americans. We see it as our patriotic duty. We understand that means pulling along the loafers, but that is the price of living in a civilized country. We want to have nice roads, landscaped medians, public transportation, arts, universal health care, public education, homeless shelters, social security and Medicare. All of those things have value and cost money, and they make us a better society. I love America, love what we have become and look forward to what we will be. It still is the greatest country in the world. Happy Birthday.

Since you are willing to pay higher taxes, then why don't you take an additional percentage of your income and send it to the US Treasury? Why do you want more of my income to pay for the programs you want? It is not patriotic duty to confiscate from me to pay for your projects. It is not the governments responsibility to pay for homeless shelters, public transportation, universal health care, etc. etc. Why don't you assume individual responsibilty? I believe that the biggest contribution I can make to society is not to burden society with my care. I wish to be free to fail or succeed on my own merits and if that means that I must go without then so be it. I have not asked anything from your society except to be left alone. I do not use public transportation, homeless shelters, social services, food stamps, mortgage asistance, or any other handouts and do not want to be forced at the point of a gun to furnish any of those for others!

Loafer, it's late, so I will keep it short. You are wrong. It really is that simple. Good night.