Once again: other countries can provide universal coverage for what you already pay in Medicare and Medicaid.
And once again: we MUST get a grip on the lawyers before a dollar-to-Euro comparison has any meaning whatsoever.
You're constantly saying "no, it can't be done, it's impossible, it's too expensive, we couldn't afford our rockets, we'd have to pay higher taxes, whine, whine whine." You, meaning you personally, dte, but also you -- health care naysayers -- collectively. Can you imagine how different the discourse would be if, instead, you asked "HOW could we do this? WHAT would it cost? WHICH trade-offs could we make? WHAT is the maximum level of coverage we could afford?" Instead, you're just expecting someone to come up with a fully-fledged plan, so you can go "Death panels! Bankruptcy! Socialism!" at it.
I'm all for a good rant, but this is simply not true. First off, you skipped over the very first and most important question. SHOULD we do this? Since you are the one demanding change from the status quo, you incur the obligation to demonstrate your proposal is viable. That doesn't necessarily have to be a plan to the nth degree, but a few vague waves accompanied by "Every great journey begins with a single step" doesn't cut it, particularly when the financial justification runs between sorely lacking and epic fail depending on whose numbers you want to believe. You seem to think I'm somehow obligated to join your joyous revolution and do your thinking for you, but that's not the way the world works.
It really, honestly is none of my beeswax, but America hasn't been a country I would want to live in for at least 20 years, and despite November 4, it's becoming less of one every day. #1 It screws entrepreneurs. #2 It has crippling, and mounting, health care costs. #3 It has perverse tort laws. #4 It has law enforcement that beats up little old ladies. #5 It has cities turning into deserts. #6 It has a rotting highway system. #7 It has brownouts. #8 It spews CO2 into the atmosphere at an accelerating rate. #9 It has crappy sanitation. #10 It has no fresh veggies in the supermarkets unless you happen to live near a Whole Food Store. #11 It has a federal government that buys fighters designed to fight enemies that don't exist, or bridges that go nowhere. #12 It has political discourse on the level of the start of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the tribes of apes banging sticks and throwing rocks at each other. #13 It has a ghetto problem that's getting worse. #14 It has a crappy and expensive primary education system that's getting worse. #15 The last vestiges of quality journalism are gone. #16 It has a federal deficit that's getting worse. #17 It's practically run by big, corrupt, politically connected mega-corporations.
That felt good, didn't it?
I've taken the liberty of inserting numbers for each point since breaking it into half a million quotes would get unwieldy. Let's take some broad brushstrokes on this, shall we? I'll assume you'll give me a little latitude for sweeping generalizations, but I'll do my best to stay away from baseless stereotypes.
#1: That's kinda broad, so we'll share the blame here. I'd put that on the left, but there's just enough mud in the pool that I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
#2: Another one that's broad, but I'm putting the blame on your side for now because of the shameless intrusion of legal leeches that your side fosters and protects. Take care of that problem, and the balance might shift to profit motives which is mine. For now, this is yours.
#3: The left loves its legal lottery and has blocked every effort to put a stop to the stupidity. That's yours.
#4: That's BS, but I'm out of that argument. I'll take this one since we're traditionally the pro-police side.
#5: Not quite sure where you're going with that one, so I'm going to skip it.
#6: Highway bills have long been the pork of choice for the right. We love to spend money on roads and bridges when you let us. Infrastructure failure is yours.
#7: Since the enviro-nuts and EPA have single-handedly made it impossible to build new power plants (particularly clean nuclear plants), this one's yours.
#8: Air pollution is mine.
#9: Not sure what you're basing that one on, nor the scope you're complaining about. Skip.
#10: Well, you do strongly espouse trade efficiencies. Since the Farmer's Market is horribly inefficient compared to an international corporate mega-farm, I could say this one's yours. It's a rather "deep" accusation with tons of inputs, so I'm going to call it a push we can share.
#11: Your examples of government waste are mine, but I can dig up enough Mapplethorpes and fish studies to match you. Push.
#12: You started it.
Push.
#13: There's a lot under the hood on that one. I'll take the blame for marginalization but you've got to take the blame for the no-personal-responsibility reinforcing culture. Push.
#14: The lefty teachers union makes it impossible to keep good teachers and dump the duds. They also resist any movement toward accountability. The lack of respect for authority undermines the discipline, making matters even worse. This one's yours.
#15: I suppose it depends on how you define "quality", but I know you favor a nice liberal media so I'll take this one.
#16: Dubya's stupidity not withstanding, the left is the party of spending. Entitlement programs account for the lion's share of federal spending. This one's yours.
#17: The left lobbyists are spending just as much as the corporations to buy influence. I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you this one.
Let's tally up, shall we? I took 4 bullets. We shared 4 bullets. 2 bullets went astray, probably knocking down old ladies in the crowd. 6 bullets are right in your gut. I wish you'd get on the stick and start fixing some of your problems, cuz you're dragging me down.
In a word, AMERICA IS GOING DOWN THE CRAPPER.
Took you long enough. I've been saying this for how long now?!?