The United States has been at least partially socialist since the New Deal Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The liberal left in this country - including myself - is at least partially in favor of creating a more socio-capitalist society in the form of government healthcare, public works projects and other such quality of life improving policies and projects.

Ironically it was the Bush administration that led the largest increase in government in the modern era ... and almost none of this increase has led to an increase in the quality of life for America's working class.

At this point I think it's becoming clear that a "hands off approach" is not working. Corporations have entirely too much power under the law to act as an individual citizen under the constitution and the government has limited abilities to prosecute the failure of these "individuals" for actions which violate the rights of citizens under the constitution. If the tax payers are going to have to bail out major corporations for their mishandling of finances then the government needs to regulate a bit more so these situations don't pop up.

Deregulation in this country is harming rather than helping the average American's pocket book. Anyone who lives in the day to day reality of American Life on the "front lines" knows we've been in a recession for quite some time. The fact that it is affecting the upper crust of our society now is scary as hell. I don't feel bad for them, but it means our entire system is crumbling from the inside out. This recession is going to be here for a while.