In today's society, there is a growing feeling that our government should provide a “socialized” type of universal medicine for the masses; that the burden of providing healthcare should no longer fall on the individual or business. I believe that entrusting our health care to a government that can barely manage itself is misguided; that even if the United States were to successfully implement a system of socialized medicine, the economic and medical hardship this would cause for so many people would far outweigh the benefits for a relatively small number of people. Although socialized medicine appears to provide adequate health care to every person, regardless of economic status, in reality this imperfect and expensive system penalizes everyone who is part of it. This will cause widespread economic distress, marked tax increases, and severely limit access to care. Under this system, we must rely on a government that cannot meet nearly $25 billion of last year's budget (Treasury Department 2010 ), spent $100 million on a satellite that sits in a warehouse and , in May 2006, misplaced a list of Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other credit information to enable more than 25 million retired veterans to own and manage all health insurance, ensure adequate funds are drawn from businesses, families and individuals through taxes and distribute them accordingly. Similar government programs providing health care were established in Russia in 1917, in England in 1948 (Smoot 1), and in Canada in 1968 (Bliss 224). Supporters of socialized medicine argue that the government can adequately develop a universal health care system that can cover all health care expenses, eliminate unnecessary costs, and provide health care coverage for... half of paper...?print =yes&random=21...>.Smoot, Dan. “Socialized Medicine.” The Dan Smoot Report. January 1960: 1-2. Springer, Dan. “Oregon Offers Doctor-Assisted Suicide Instead of Medical Treatment to Terminal Patients.” Fox News. July 28, 2008. October 10, 2008. nter_friendly_story/0,3566,392962,00.html>. Templeton, Sarah-Kate. “Alan Johnson in U-turn on integrative patient care.” Times online. October 19, 2008. October 24, 2008. Zhang, Jane. "Uninsured spend $30 billion, study says." The Wall Street Journal August 25, 2008. October 16, 2008. Stout, David and Zeller, Tom. “A large cache of veteran data stolen.” The New York Times May 23, 2006 Treasury Department. “United States Government Financial Report 2002”