"What is the basic purpose of a government, any government? To protect the citizens of the country. What kills more US-Americans: heart disease or terrorism? Cancer or invasion by foreign military forces? Case closed: the Pentagon and the NIH need to switch budgets and access to health care is currently more central to the government's purpose than defending the borders." -- Dianne, 2011-04-12
"'What is the basic purpose of a government, any government?' To protect the interests of the insurance lobby, obviously. This was written into the Constitution by Jesus, in ink invisible to atheists." -- Hazzard, two minutes later
[
Thanks to
realinterrobang for quoting it earlier.]