I surrender, Lou, you have out-typed me.
Oh, Bill, you are so droll!
Lou,
Common good has been advanced. There is no question more personal accountability must be entered into the implementation of government programs. When you inherit a mess, that had only a financial meltdown as the endgame, NO PLAN is going to wave the wand of oceans of jobs and prosperity. I've not been happy with nearly ALL of our elected federal officials. It isn't party specific, the whole bunch of them are acting like little kids at a time when serious, tough decisions need to be made.
You cite Europe and England as examples of socialism gone wrong. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are doing a pretty good job. Germany, despite the huge costs it's still absorbing from taking back an oppressed, gutted other half of its nation, has remained solid. England's mistake was allowing an open-door, EU policy with semi-impoverished, new-entry nations, which flooded them with immigrants and lacked the safeguards to check heavy-benefit burdens. Prior to that they were doing quite well. They certainly got sucked up in the global melt-down as well, which added to the strain. Scotland had been on fairly solid footing as well.
We're the only mature, major economic power without some national heathcare provision. I guess the rest of them have it all wrong and we have it covered. C'mon, what we have going on here is an extortionate joke.
I'm no financial guru, but let's be frank, NOBODY has a real handle on where this is going. Nations like Greece and Spain also have what...greater disparity in wealth amongst its population than most other countries with similar resources. Couple that with some poor economic models and blundering; it's no surprise they are where they find themselves. The problem is, THE WORLD has problems because of them, AND us!
As I think you would readily agree, and I'm certainly an advocate of this; we need a balance of programs, with real accountability for those that might need help(which is enlarging to contain the middle class), and some cleaning up on loopholes and excess at the top. Everyone needs to step up their responsibility and we can advance that common good bigtime!
Cheers,
Kris 
Kris,
Somewhere in storage I have a VHS tape of a golf lesson I was taking from one of Hank Haney's instructors in a multi-station facility at his original place in McKinney, TX (a converted horse barn, with the video stations in the hayloft). The camera caught part of a lesson Hank was giving to a struggling high-handicap, middle aged man, in which he is admoninishing the guy with comments such as "your swing is on so many planes I don't know which one to look at". Not that I am the Hank Haney of these thingss or that you're the high-handicap student, but I'll try to touch on a couple of your "planes".
You are absolutely right, no magic wand exists. The same people who crucified Bush for much of his eight years and continue to blame him for everything today take great offense when their ideological opposites do the same with Obama. I am actually not all that upset with the politicians. For the most part, they respond to the requirements of their constituents. It is the segment of the American people I am disappointed with who continue to demand more and more from government all in the name of "fairness" and "social justice".
Has the common good been advanced? I suppose in some areas as minority rights it is true. But by what means and at what costs? Is the progress the result of leftist activism, or the natural progression of a wealthier, more diverse democratic society? Is a job stimuls program where the government spends $250,000 for one job that pays $50,000 advancement?
You may wish to look closer at the European countries you cite. Except for Germany, they are small, homogenous, and largely well-endowed with natural resources. Germany also much more closely resembles these countries than it does our much larger, heterogenous society. Also you many note that many of the European countries are moving in opposite directions economically than the U.S. and don't support much of a defense capability. As the U.S. disassembles its still considerable militaty to feed the social demands of the segment of the population I allude to above, it will be interesting to watch whether Europe chooses to take up the slack and spend to defend itself, or say "---k it, keep the welfare coming and we'll all learn Mandarin, Russian, or whatever language" the prevailing aggressive power imposes on it.
Is healthcare a right or a good? We in effect have had national healthcare since I can remember which is subsidised by corporations, consumers, and taxpayers. The Dallas Morning News had an interesting editorial piece in Sunday's edition by Noemi Emery of the Weekly Standard (sorry I am too lazy to link it), but might be worth your consideration (and time finding it).
I would suggest that providing expensive things largely for free to over 300 million people creates many problems not the least of which is cost/affordability, but also the diminuation of freedom and individual rights. Should a white, 60 year-old fat guy with a painful back which a $50,000 operation can alleviate be first forced to lose 50 pounds and see if that takes care of the problem? Should a 15 year-old 5'4", 300 pound pre-diabetic black teenager be put on a strict diet and exercise regime and removed from the custody of his equally obese single mother? Does the government clerk who abuses sick leave and is required to get a doctor's notice to justify further paid absences be covered? BTW, these are all real examples so common which anyone who has dealt with socialized healthcare can recognize. And of course, the majority of "developed" nations can be wrong. They are all having similar problems which will only get worse as the U.S., the "giver" and maker of new techniques, technologies, and advanced drugs, is forced through economic necessity and political disincentives to curtail its focus on furthering the science and join the "takers".
For what it is worth, my suggestion for you and all others is to at least become comfortable with economics and finance. It is important to align hopes and wishes with what is possible in reality.
Lastly, prior to Obama cheapening and misdefining the word "balance", I might agree with you, provided that you ommited the word "programs". We have way too many "plans" and "programs" going on, most of which are rehashed, newly-coined fantasies and disasters already tried and many still in place. I am all for a different approach with personal responsibility and accountability in the forefront. Get rid of ALL the loopholes. No corporate taxes. Everybody pays taxes, and no one's taxes are increased without the same corresponding rate adjustment on everyone else. And if we want to get really serious, tie expenditures to receipts over a short time horizon, say three to five years. Respect federalism and allow the states to truly reflect the will of the people and serve as willing laboratories of social policies. Who knows, maybe a section of the country will adopt more utopian socialist practices and look more like the European countries you admire (I wouldn't bet on it).