Sen. Mitch McConnell on Health-Care Reform

[babylonsister]

This is the mindset we're up against. The man lies about Canada, but did anyone correct him?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8456963
Canadian health care myths: Every myth is exposed and proven to be false

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/10/AR2009061001802.html

Sen. Mitch McConnell on Health-Care Reform
Remarks from the Senate Floor

Office of Sen. Mitch McConnell
Wednesday, June 10, 2009; 1:36 PM


Americans are increasingly frustrated with the U.S. health care system as we know it -- and they expect real reform, not just the promise of a reform that never comes, or the illusion of a reform that ends up destroying what's good about the current system and replacing it with something worse.

Americans don't think basic medical procedures should break the bank, and they don't understand why millions of Americans have to go without basic care in a nation as prosperous as our own. Still, many Americans are quite happy with the health care they currently have, and they don't want to be forced onto a government plan they don't like.

So the need for reform is not in question. The real question is what kind of reform -- the kind that makes care more affordable and accessible; or the kind that makes existing problems worse.

snip//

Some ways to do this would be by discouraging the junk medical liability lawsuits that drive up the cost of practicing medicine and limit access to care in places like rural Kentucky; through prevention and wellness programs that reduce health care costs, such as programs that help people quit smoking, fight obesity, and get early diagnoses for disease; and we could control costs and protect patients by addressing the needs of small businesses without imposing mandates or taxes that kill jobs.

All of us want reform. But the government-run plan that some are proposing for the U.S. isn't the kind of change Americans are looking for. We should learn a lesson from Canada. At a time when some in the U.S. want government-run health care, Canada is instituting reforms that would make their system more like ours.

According to Canadian-born doctor David Gratzer, the medical establishment in Canada is in revolt, with private sector options expanding and doctors frustrated by government cutbacks that limit access to care. And the "New York Times" reported a few years ago that private clinics were opening in Canada at a rate of about one a week. Dr. Gratzer asks a simple question: 'Why are {Americans} rushing into a system of government-dominated health care when the very countries that have experienced it for so long are backing away?' Many Americans are beginning to ask themselves the same thing.

[Thrill]

1. Democrats don't know how to win the public debate

Obama is the only one who knows how to do it. The Democrats in Congress are weak. Thats why Obama holds back on taking more progressive stances.

Obama will start it tomorrow in the Wisconsin. Lets see if the Dems take notes and back him up

[kjackson227]

4. The Democrats are weak, AND they're afraid of losing their...

lobbyist friends/meal tickets. I firmly believe that there are a lot of Dems who are satisfied with the status-quo, and want to remain quietly behind their doors until all of this passes over.

[safeinOhio]

2. Good thinking Mitch

We really should find out what country is the happiest with their health care system and just copy that one. Only I don't think Mitch will like the results.

[Cleita]

3. Busted! I thought Dr. David Gratzer's name was familiar to me.

He's a neo-con who is attempting to bring down Canada's health care system bringing them our system. Here is some info on him.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/gratzer.htm

There is a small but dangerous group of Canadians who belong to these right wing think tanks, who spread the astroturf in mainstream publications, saying that the Canadian health care system is awful and dying. None of it is true. They are no different than the Heritage Foundation wacko nut jobs.