universal healthcare

[kandrathe]

Sorry Jim, not good enough. I found a lot of places where the putative quote was listed. That is meaningless. Lists like that are all too often compiled from memory, by contribution, or by research into equally uncertain sources. What I want is a reference to where and when the quote was first uttered or written. Preferably written in a verifiable document, but attested to by a contemporary and reliable source would be almost as good. Or a reference to when the quote was made up, by whom, and why.

I've been looking too. It is used often, and always credited to Ben. http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/quotes/govt.html And another citation here; http://mises.org/daily/1144

Edit: Ok, attributed to Franklin in "Pearls of Wisdom", by Jerome Agel and Walter D. Glanze(Amazon)

How about; "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy." - Thomas Jefferson

TITLE: To Thomas Cooper.
EDITION: Washington ed. iv, 453.
EDITION: Ford ed., viii, 178.
PLACE: Washington
DATE: 1802