Socialized Health Care in the USA

[Ashock]

Why do people rant against government-run health care as some kind of scary socialist monster, when they have no problems with government-run schools, garbage pickup, mail and all kinds of other public services?

Because government inevitably screws it all up. Government usually has only the best intentions in mind when it thinks of new sweeping programs. Unfortunately, beurocrats do not ever consider the consequences to their actions. While it is regrettable in the first case, and irrelevant in the second, in the case of medicine, it is literally deadly.