Which side of history do you want to be on?

Times Union:

Government is not a four-letter word. Yet, at every turn, we hear a knee-jerk negativism, a shotgun rage charging that the country is going to the dogs.

Yet, if every forward-looking measure, like assuring people of health care, is branded a socialist or, worse, a communist plot, we are simply substituting slogans for thinking.

Just ask any of those people over 65 who are fuming over socialized medicine if they are ready to give up Medicare -- which is wholly run by the government. Ask them if they are ready to end Social Security -- which is wholly run by the government. Ask any politician if he or she proposes to abolish these government-run programs. That would be political suicide.

And ask people who are complaining about government spending intended to stimulate a depressed economy, would they prefer the approach of a Herbert Hoover, who stood by as the country slipped into its worst depression in history?