Quote Originally Posted by Warriorbird View Post
All the self gratifying Republican notions don't mean that companies don't see when they hold the whip hand. Sure, it might look like things were better off at first but the power of a company that holds the majority of national insurance policies would be intense. This "competion means reduced prices" notion doesn't always play out in the real world.
It actually does, until the government gets involved.

Before you bring up robber barons and other bullshit that happened 100 years ago, give me an example in the modern world. We're not uneducated hillbillies with one telegraph for the town. As a society we're more intelligent, and a LOT more connected. This would be the perfect environment for a truly free market to show what it could do for us, but it's now so bogged down with decades of government meddling it would be nearly impossible for us to find out.

I think your anger is misguided...it's not the big corporations you should be railing against, but the banks. They caused the depression, and the latest recession...of course, the argument could be made that we, ourselves caused it by being too dependent on credit...but pfft. Why should we take responsibilities for our own actions, it's much easier to blame a nameless "evildoer".