I think there are things that we can do collectively and commonly - for the common good - as our founding fathers used to call it. Such things as roads and bridges and utilities and even the building of schools and hospitals are for the common good and should be supported collectively as should the national defense and transportation systems.

Beyond that, tho, I think anything that falls into the personal category like health insurance, education, and life choices are much better done individually.

We can support the common good with such things as the free lunch program for poverty level children and medicare for the elderly and medicaid for the poor without sacrificing the individuality of everyone.

I too see Hiliary Clinton as a socialist/collectivist who would impose her choices on the rest of us along with a huge tax bill with all the benefits she wants to provide and she keeps say they will be free. They are not free if the money for them comes out of the wallets of everyone who has a job.

Unfortunately, this far left perspective seems all too prevalent amongs the Democrats and they get outraged at anyone who questions the wisdom of it or even their motives.

Our problem is not that we have a conflict between the common good and the individual good. Our problem is that our federal government has taken it upon itself to create a massive government with departments and agencies that duplicate each other and in many cases, are in charge of doing something that does not need doing at the federal level. There is also the problem of agencies that no one seems to know just what they do and have no measureable benefits for the rest of us.

They just refuse to simplify and cut out these expensive agencies just as the DC crowd refuses to give up their expensive earmarks for local projects - usually given to their pals and relatives - that benefit few people.

And even tho the Democrats promised they would eliminate these things, even Hiliary Clinton go in on the act with her budget item of a Woodstock Museum - as if anyone needs that. If that local economy wants that Museum, perhaps they should start raising the money for it from all the rich and famous rock musicians in the country. Just as in all the other pork barrel projects, there is no need for the rest of us to pay for such things.

It would have been different if what she asked for was money to repair some of the NY bridges but not for something that stupid.

And all of them, both Republicans and Democrats did it and we ended up with a budge of over 3000 pages.

So what we really need to do is have a national discussion and even a referendum on just what is in the common good and what the federal government should be about.