Praetorian, you say yourself you’re not an economist, so I’ll believe you. That you seem blissfully unaware of the topic of the post makes it inherently plausible. You could also add “logical thinker” and “someone who fairly represents an opponent’s position” to the list of things you are not.
It is only when partisans like President Obama create a false binary, “this bill or the status quo,” that sensible people choose the status quo, since “this bill” equates to “accelerating the debt spiral,” the topic of the article (a topic you are remarkably silent on). A lot of effort is being put into how to correct what is wrong with health care financing that doesn’t entail destroying the economy. You would be well-served to read up on it, unless your true agenda is simply a deviant political one.
I’m sorry wherever you live is an anomoly in the US, but to claim that the US provides mediocre care is patently false. Life expectancy and relative health are influenced by far more factors than the health system, so to attempt to make that simple correlation illustrates a basic disregard for an honest discussion.
But keep repeating to yourself that those who disagree with you are ignorant of the problems and are only defending the status quo. I’m sure that gives you a needed feeling of superior insight and significance.
