“In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

That was Thomas Hobbes, who argued that implicit in civil society is a social contract that called for a strong government presence in regulating conduct.  In Mr. Hobbes time, the king was the ultimate sovereign.  These days, you could argue that the sovereign is the Federal government as set out by the Constitution.

Hobbes understood that the nature of man, without that social contract, would descend into chaos and ultimately darkness.  In other words, without strong laws, people cheat, lie and steal.

I say this as a means of introduction to a bipartisan proposal by Jim Gerlach, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, to get rid of fraud in Medicare.  It is a modest proposal that could save tens of billions of dollars in government spending.  Read more...