The main drawback to the plan is that it didn’t really address any of the core reasons for escalating health costs and doctor shortages, but as a state plan, it really couldn’t. A national health care plan can, though, if implemented properly.

As far as the quality of this country’s health care compared to other countries, I have no idea personally how good or bad Canada is, but a WHO ranking had it at #30 compared to #37 for the US, so the care level would probably have some plus/minus advantages for each. From personal experience, though, European health care treatment is across the board better, especially for the elderly, and generally more advanced.

Fact: Republican greed and stupidity has almost ruined America. Obama is taking drastic measures. Relax and let the man work.

http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/06/even-biden-notes-stimulus-not-really.html

Your story is very compelling and doesn’t speak well about our current medical billing system. The question is still ‘who’s going to fix it’?

As far as reducing defense spending and your view that it reduces employment, yes, that’s the price we pay, but other opportunities always open in our dynamic economy.

21. Chris:

“If a company is producing what the customer wants, then by definition it is building the “right” things.”

Not necessarily, the gas guzzling designs are not the right thing in our future. Or the supersizing of fast food. Or the feeding of drugs to our hypochondriac society.

22. alanstorm:

““How about chopping down military spending, it’s a huge chunk.”

It should be a huge chunk – it’s spending on something that’s actually a REQUIRED function of government. Health care is not.”

Health care is NOT a function of government? I find this baffling. OSHA? FDA? Surgeon General? CDC?

12. Fred Beloit:

“Healthcare costs go up because of the violation of the law of supply and demand. People with certain types of healthcare insurance (i.e., company-paid and government-paid) feel (son, ah say FEEL) that their healthcare is free,”

Yes, people are wasteful. Medical people have told me to do this or that ‘because your insurance will pay for it’. Or not shopping for cost of medications even if covered by insurers.

Healthcare is the last greedy SOB left in our country-blood sucking weasels that have mowed down our base of business-they are our last enemy. If we can rope in the greedy little HMO’s we will be on our way to profit and prosperity. Next is to reform our schools and make them green.

That’s a great idea- we’ll just stop buying prescription drugs from the “big” drug companies. We’ll start buying them from the Mom & Pop drug companies in the neighborhood. Instead of those awful anitbiotics I had to take when I had the kidney infection I’ll try the Indian health food proprieter downtown and he can set me up with one of those tried and true poultices of buffalo dung. You are correct on one thing- the western Euro-weenie countries do have a slightly longer average life expectancy than the U.S.- by about six months. Though to be honest, I’m not thrilled about trading roughly six more months of life after age 77 for Euro style, nanny state living.

Funny, you’d think with the advantages you cite of living in Europe that Europeans would be happier, but they’re not. I read some interesting poll results that attempted to gauge levels of optimism or life satisfaction and the Euros are strangely quite an unhappy, fatalistic bunch. Americans are far more optimistic and positive while the French, Germans, Italians and Spanish & Belgians are sour on just about everything. Not surprisingly, they are so miserable they seem to have stopped reproducing. Most of the Western Euro nations (the U.K being the exception) have fallen off a cliff in terms of birthrates over the last 30 years: they are at lowest- low fertility rates; meaning they are BELOW population replacement levels. You’d think with all that free health care, good food, and cultural superiority they’d be walkiing on air and reproducing like mad, but the exact opposite is happening- they are dying off in every sense. Their economies are dying. Their people are dying, they are commiting suicide in a sense. Is that the big payoff for being so superior to us dumb, blighted Americans?

As to your assertion about them being “more tolerant of different races,” I have to call B.S. on that one. Precisely how did you divine that they have a demonstrably more tolerant society than ours? Could it be all the non-white faces you see of all the heads of their governments? Funny, I see photos of Euro heads of state and various ministers and I just see the usual pasty-faced, rogues gallery of upper-middle aged bureaucrats. Guess they must be keeping all the evidence of their racial inclusiveness under wraps somewhere else.

Did you guys come on here to learn from us or just harrass?

I grew up military and experienced “government” medical care. I worked in the medical field, working with Medicaid/Medicare…YOU DON”T WANT IT! I promise.