A Huge Insurance Company with an Army

I wish I was clever enough to make this stuff up. Paul Krugman today said the U.S. federal government is really just "a huge insurance company with an army." And yes, he thinks that's a good thing.

The basic picture of the federal government you should have in mind is that it’s essentially a huge insurance company with an army; Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid — all of which spend the great bulk of their funds on making payments, not on administration — plus defense are the big items.

I mean honestly, a huge insurance company with an army? What could go wrong with that?