redblueamerica.com

It's about personal responsibility. You had a child, no one made you have a child earlier than you wanted but you. Millions of people have children and get their college education everyday. You can make excuses all day long but the responsibility for your actions in life fall directly on yourself. I don't know what the point of sating your IQ is. IQ has been shown time and again to not compensate for common sense which I assume your in lack of. Otherwise you would know that because the "free" health care that Canada, and other countries, have is so remarkably lacking in length of time for care that people come to the US for their health care. Last report was a 6 month wait for an MRI. You have any idea how long you wait for an MRI in the good ole US of A? Closer to 6 minutes than 6 months. This same government that let us get into the economic mess we are in now, that has practically bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, this is the same government that you want to decide if the 6 million dollar treatment required to treat whatever disease you may have that would only give you a 20% chance to live is a bad investment, so they let you die. Going to universal health care will not keep it from being ran like a profitable business. It will not make anything better for you. You will still be sitting at home, in pain, and blaming everyone but yourself for your position in life. Take a little bit of responsibility and go out and get whatever it is that you want, instead of waiting on the government to come and hand it to you.

they want to act like people want free healthcare because they dont want to pay. YOUR STUPID IF YOU THINK THAT! people like me want universal healthcare because we dont have care at all, we cant afford it, im a single father with a child, i have cronic back pains, and i have a vericocile that needs surgery and i cant do anything about either because i cant afford it, so i sit in pain all day. if i lived in ANY... ANY!!! other progressive country i could just walk in and get help. here i cant or they would sue me for the money i dont have...
this country NEEDS a system where people arent DIEING!!! because big business wont help them unless they make enough money to pay hundreds of dollars a month to them. get a life. we need UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE and thats why im helping obama take this election

no, no, no, no, and more no

I completely argee, advancing socialized medicine in the same way that Canada has will reduce the quality of life for all Americans in the long run.

So you want the entity responsible for, say, building the levies in New Orleans, then screwing up rescue efforts, and turning away volunteers and supplies, in charge of health care?

Yeah, just what we need. The efficiency of Amtrack, the cost consciousness of the Pentagon, and the compassion of the IRS applied to medicine. Brilliant.

Socialist medicine is falling apart all over the world, with long waits, crappy care, and a huge incentive for more government interference in lifestyle choices.

The biggest problem with health care is the lack of an effective free market. The government pays half the bills and we know how well they handle money. Nearly all of the rest is paid by insurance companies. There is no incentive for the consumer to shop for the best value, or for anyone in the chain to compete on price.

The one exception is Lasik, which isn't usually covered by insurance. As a result the price has dropped over 300% and the quality has risen dramatically.

Visit downsizedc.org to see a bill that would greatly expand Health Savings Accounts, which would bring the free market back to medicine.

Since most criminals in jail drank milk when they were kids, then most kids who drink milk will end up in jail.

This an error in logic (if a=b, and b=c, then a=c)

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SOCIALISM
the eu are all socialist, and thier standard of living is higher than ours.
the russians mucked it up, but that doesnt mean it can never work.
Capitalism can never work
what's the highest and most pure form of capitalism?
a mafia
no doubt about it
you can have whatever you want if you're willing to pay enough, and you can get there by whatever means you want. you're welcome to stand on the face of the guy next to you to get higher than him. you're welcome to go shoot your competition if that will help.
ORGANIZED CRIME IS CAPITALIST
shouldnt that make capitalism a crime?

C*۞אּعI ร †

My whole family is against socialized universal health care because we would not be able to afford the tax increase it'd bring.

health insurance companies, that's who. and they pay off congress in order to get laws passed that benefit their monetary greed. they only want more money. they do this by paying doctors low rates and charging an assload in premiums. they could care less about the quality of care they provide. all i know is i don't want them involved in my healthcare. because of this corporate, consumerist system, rich people receive better care than poor people. some of you may think that's fair, but i like to think we live in country where we look after our fellow man.

For those of you opposing universal health, try living without health insurance for a month. You'll be on the universal bandwagon in no time. My family lost our health insurance due to extreme rises in the cost of it, and no one seems to be interested in our business. I'd rather wait 6 months to see a doctor then never see a doctor at all.

Just plain incorrect.

and yet it is the greatest system of government there is, right? Don't you realize that health care costs are astronomical regardless of how they are paid for and most people's health care is second rate already. Some of us just want to cut out the do nothings at the insurance company who are just sponging out of the system.

"Citizens will no longer get to choose their level of care, the gov't will dictate. Long waits to get in for a check-up, how about months to get treatment if you've been diagnosed with a disease."

Obviously, you have never been without health care. Most doctors are better than no doctor at all, or thousands of dollars in debt.

"More of your tax money will go to pay for the the millions who never had health care before."

Why is it ok to spend billions of dollars on a war, but not on keeping our citizens ALIVE?

Universal health care doesn't just mean socialized medecine. At first one will think this is great, now everyone will get healthcare, but them the problems will start to happen. Citizens will no longer get to choose their level of care, the gov't will dictate. Long waits to get in for a check-up, how about months to get treatment if you've been diagnosed with a disease. More of your tax money will go to pay for the the millions who never had health care before.

Take Ontario, Canada for instance. I recently read that people may get a choice of a couple of doctors to bee seen from. They wait, and wait and wait. By the time they are diagnosed or treated, they may be past the point of treatment or have died. Funding for health care is in the tank. Many just come over to America to be seen.Now imagine all of this on an American level, don't forget now, you'll be paying for all of those undocumented people out there.

Also take into account that most of our hospitals are privately owned and that people have the freedom to choose their specialists and the hospital they would go to. ANother example of socialized medecine gone wrong is the VA. I have severe back problems and need a minor surgery to correct nerve and bone issues, as recommended by my civilian doctor. It takes months just to see a care provider through the VA, but then that's if they don't cancel my appointment on me which is about 50%. Then when I get there I wait hours because they are overwhelmed in the patient to doctor ratio. It's like an assembly line once I get in, for all of 15 minutes. What do they give me, more narcotics, ask me to wait a few months longer and then come in again. I recently asked them if I could see a civilian physician through my work's healthcare program, they said yes, but to keep personal records, so that the VA can track it.

So, if you think that universal healthcare will be good, think again. At first it'll seem all fine a dandy, maybe for a couple of years, but then the backlog and lack of funding will catch up and people will be running to another country to seek treatment for their major illnesses so they don't suffer in the system.

No competition means no incentive to provide a quality service. Also people seem to think the government has endless coffers. The money has to come from somewhere, people. Guess where it's gonna come from? Taxes, and a sh*tload of them. It's not going to be free as people would like to tell themselves. The upper class that everyone seems to love tearing down will scoff at the ridiculously small amount of money (to them, of course; it's a ton of money to the rest of us) they are forced to fork over for it, meanwhile taking their money elsewhere to countries where the healthcare system isn't in shambles. And the lower class won't have to pay sh*t. But the middle class will bend over and get their sh*t raped and be robbed blind, thus eliminating a huge portion of the circulation of currency in our economy, and force the lower end of the class to forgo some usually pretty important spending such as college and charity.

Let me make this short: You think the economy's bad now? You think healthcare's expensive now? Just wait 'til it's free. :-P

Yes, I will gladly give up all socialized government systems. If you look at those things just mentioned, how well do they work? Those should all be based on private relationships. Neither the constitution nor the founders themselves seem to envision public libraries or schools. Please note: to say that socialism is a successful government, and that socialized medicine would be so more cost effective, is absolute and utter nonsense. Look closer. If you are unable to learn from continued observation, I am not interested in sharing the country with you. We should immediately separate the states into two (or more) separate countries. As far as I am concerned, socialists can have the west coast.

Using the term "universal" suggests that our current candidates are actually interested in establishing a system like England or Canada. In reality, universal health care here means reaffirming the current system, requiring everyone by law to become insured. It is no where near socialism, nor would it solve the problem of increasing government spending towards health care.

A true universal health care system would dissolve the insurance companies (something no president interested in their own political survival would likely do) and it is very possible that it would cost a lot less to the individual tax payer as well as to corporations, who would no longer be required to pay for employee insurance.

And anyway, what is wrong with socialism? It is a successful type of government that would not threaten our capitalist system and would continue to allow the exploitation of workers like you and me. The only major difference would be that you and I should live a little better with things like higher wages and money saved that would have gone to health insurance.

Another entitlement program the size of universal health care will actually result in no government services for any except a select few of the governing elite. As it stands now Social Security and Medicare alone will consume the entire federal budget within 15 years without either massive increases in taxes or severe cutbacks in benefits.

Other countries with government provided health care such as England and Canada are already experiencing long waits for essential services, doctor and nurse shortages, and other cutbacks in service. Since there are not enough health services (long waits for surgery and shortages of hospital beds) to go around in those countries, there is already talk of the government deciding who is worthy of treatment and who is not.(Such as cutting out services for non-productive citizens, such as old people.)

When they contemplate government provided health care most Americans today never think past "free health care" and getting something for nothing. Unfortunately we will end up with very little at great cost of our freedoms and treasure.

The poster is right that location of hospital and access to it's facility are a major factor. Universal Healthcare usually results in consolidating equipment and resources into fewer locations, which will make this even more of a problem for those in rural areas.

First of all, I question your numbers. But let's say they're right. Fine.

So it's fine that up to 20% of our citizenry are just out of luck if they have a medical problem? That ONE FIFTH (by your conservative estimate) of Americans are up the creek if they develop a serious medical condition?

There's a lot of talk about personal responsibility and work ethic from the right. Has it occurred to you what a burden on society is created by people who become too sick to work because they were unable to receive quality care at an early stage of their illness, BEFORE it became debilitating?

The far-right idea that it is acceptable to simply throw away a large portion of our society is sickening.

For those who are pressing for universal health care, look towards the treatment of your soldiers. Nowhere is there a more concise case study than that of the overworked, underfunded, rundown VA Hospitals that exist throughout this country. A routine procedure requires months of planning and waiting, whereas in emergencies, the patients are taken to local "civilian" medical facilities due to the VA facilities are under equipped or overbooked.

Ask a veteran who has experience with the VA prior to making the rest of the country endure the same treatment.

Britain has a failing health care system. They recently announced that all patients would be seen
within four hours of reaching an ER. The ER's now
will make ambulances wait in the parking lot until they are ready for the patient, which is causing a shortage of ambulances.
Agree with your other points.
Funny the media doesn't cover these stories when there is so much talk about universal health care.
20/20 did cover this this year and Canada's system. Worth watching. JET

Universal health care is great for covering all individuals but terrible for encouraging Biotech companies to do cutting edge research. Basically, countries like Great Britain and Canada rely upon the United States for Biotech research because our insurance system encourages the development of new vaccines regardless of expense. By bringing universal health care to the United States, experimental treatments would be heavily discouraged and Biotech companies would no longer be able to fund their research the way they do today. The result? A decline in new health-related discoveries.