Our Present Health Care System Is Bleeding Americans Dry.

[Cal33]

I wonder why Democrats are being put on the defensive about the cost of their proposed
health care coverage?

It's about time that the following questions are asked of the Republicans:

1. I understand that the present health care coverage (preferred by our health insurance
companies and the Republican Party) is costing us 16% of our Gross National Product
per year. The French pay the next highest for their health care. It amounts to 10% of their Gross
National Product, and ALL the French receive health care coverage (there is no Frenchman without
medical coverage, like we do in the USA).

2. Under our present system, the cost of health care has been going up two to three times
as fast as the inflation rate of our currency for the past eight years.

3. The cost of health care rise has also been going up three times faster than the
salary rises of American employees for the past eight years.

4. Wouldn't a single payer or "public option" system cost far less, in the long run, than
what the American people are paying right now? The advanced countries of the world with
total health care coverage all pay far less than we do. And we have 46 million Americans who
are not covered at all.

5. And aren't the Republicans pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people? It's simply
not possible for private (for profit) and very greedy insurance company executives to charge less
than the public (not-for-profit) institutions. So these execs. try to frigten the American people
with words like "Socialism>" Just look at Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan. Britain has
had their system since Winston Churchill started it some 65 years ago. All these countries are
doing very well, with longer life expectancies.... and they pay less, too. They are not paying
the yearly executive bonuses that run into the $10 million, and the retirement pay package deals
that can top $100 million each.

6. How come so many Americans don't see that they are being fooled, lied to and deceived and taken
for all they are worth by the greedy American corporations time and timeO again?

[dschis]

1. They will reply

Cost too much in taxes
Economy (Wall Street) will take a hit
Other nefarious and false bullet points

[Oregone]

2. America believes preserving capitalism is more important than preserving life

Preserving life is all fine and good, as long as profits can be collected at every point from health care delivery, to insurance, to even the outsourced companies that print those shiny fucking insurance cards.

As long as you allow all these uninvolved people (shareholders) and middle men milking profits out at every step, it'll continue to bleed America dry and make it uncompetitive (even if America can accomplish covering everyone).

Good luck dislodging blind ideology.

[Cal33]

14. What you say is true. But there is a line between "reasonable

profit" and "unstoppable greed." It's when this line gets crossed that troubles
begin. I think anyone could cross this line, even without meaning to, when in
the excitement of big profits. But the average person would stop and retrace
his steps if he's made aware that he has crossed the line of what' acceptable
behavior.

Here I must say that there are people who are not "average." For prominent examples
among these, just look at the behavior and tactics of the NeoConservatives. Isn't it clear
to see that their only goals in life are MATERIAL GAIN and POWER? And to be successful
at obtaining these, they have no hesitation about resorting to the unending use of fraud,
deceit and lies. These are the behaviors and life-goals of THE SOCIOPATH. Sociopaths,
by definition, have defective consciences, and are not bothered by their own anti-social
behavior.

Their success can only be temporary, because, in time, truth will always out. But we
have to work hard at counteracting their lies by pointing them out each time they're
told, and then letting people know what the truth really is.

I think that too many Democratic leaders are too passive, perhaps too frightened
at doing this.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Welcome to DU!

Awesome rant. K&R
:toast:
:hi:

[Cal33]

11. Not awesome enough. Why aren't Dems. on the offensive?

They should be doing much more to let the gullible people on the other side know the
truth. Aren't there any Harry Trumans left these days?

Many thanks for your welcome.

[Canuckistanian]

12. Harry Truman is dead

So is Barry Goldwater. And Reagan made sure that their ideologies died with them.

The modern-day Republicans take their ideas straight from Ayn Rand, with Straussian compassions for the citizen.

The almighty dollar now rules Congress and Senate, not the lowly voter. This HCR debate has brought that out into the open now.

Your only hope is Campaign Finance reform. Get the money out of politics.

[Cal33]

13. Yes, Campaign Finance Reform is sorely needed, but it would

be even more diffficult to get it through Congress than Health Care Reform.
Politics has always been corrupt, and will always remain so, as long as
there are sociopaths around.

[kenny blankenship]

4. So let's prop the bloated, for-profit corpse up with subsidies and govt. enforced collections

Fuck the people. They are just livestock, meat bags for the corporate table.

[leftstreet]

6. We should just give Big Insurance their bailout now

Why drag us through the Bubble>Bailout years waiting for the inevitable single payer?

Assholes!

[Sinti]

5. Remove the words "Health Care" and this is an entirely accurate statement. n/t

[madmax]

7. Answer to #6

Because they're too stupid to live. They live in an alternate universe called 'Reality TV', WWF, Nascar (and they're coming arrrrrrround the turrrrrrrrrrn). I've met a lot of this type - I want to smack the snot outta them.

I am no longer friends with one of these idjits. Could not take another second of her 'patriotism' or was it her stupidity. Like talking to a rock - facts don't matter. Rush is God, Hanity is St. Peter and forget about GB - he's a special Angel! :puke:

:hi:

[FiveGoodMen]

8. I'm quite sure it was designed to

[Altoid_Cyclist]

9. The corporate owned government is in the process of killing a woman who works with my wife.

She's been off work for almost 6 months due to lung cancer which has already spread as far as her brain. Her only hope is to continue to rest and receive treatment.

The problem is that she will lose her employer provided insurance if she can't return to work in a few weeks. She's too weak and sick to do that, but if she doesn't return, then she loses her insurance and can't afford any more treatments.

This _ _ _ _ ing country and their corporate masters are killing people in the name of profits and CEO bonuses.

I'd say more, but it would get pretty ugly.
:grr: :nuke:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

17. She has 18 months of continued healthcare w/ COBRA and right now there are

government subsidies if she qualifies that will pay 65% of the cost.

Here is the link to the info for her.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html

If the House version of the Healthcare bill passed , she could be in the National High Risk Pool in January if she loses her insurance.

[lib2DaBone]

10. Welcome to the Goldman Sacs Medical Center

We take Cash, Visa and Mastercard. We don't care if you are sick or dying... No Tiki No Laundry.

For information in how you can buy shares in Goldman Sacs Medical Center.. contact your broker.
(this is not investment advice... may be slightly higher in western states.. past performance is no guarantee of future profit cause we do what we want.. void where prohibited...)

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. I cannot fathom the reasoning that the USAmerican government uses to not look at Canada's system

.
.
.

We are not the best, but we are up there. and we are neighbors

Look North Barack

heck - there's thousands of USAmericans immigrating to Canada just to access our health-care system!

But wait a minute

We have an unfair advantage on this health-care thing

Us Canuks aren't spending trillions of dollars trying to control the globe

So our "war" budget is tiny

USA needs all them trillions of dollars to defend themselves from all the aggression they spend and receive from their global enterprises.

Us stoopid Canuks mostly mind our business and take care of our own

There is NO political party that would survive in Canada if they diminish our health-care.

Sadly, there is no political party in the USA that would survive if they did not continue on their self-defeating war on the World . .

(sigh)

[Laelth]

16. I think your questions are mis-directed.

The Republicans are irrelevant. You should address these questions to certain members of the Democratic Party. After all, we Democrats are in power, and it is we who have failed to enact single-payer. It is we who took single-payer "off the table" from the very beginning. Republicans will be Republicans. It's the Democratic Party that I hold responsible for this mess.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Cal33]

18. I agree that Democrats are responsible in part for the mess.

For one thing, too many Democratic leaders are too passive, frightened, helpless and spineless to
stand up to the righat-wingers -- even when these latter are no longer in power.