Mike, I believe you doth protest too much. Your Calgary man is such a statistical anomaly that he’s not worth mentioning to support your argument. The overwhelming majority of doctors and patients in Alberta are part of the public healthcare system, and, although some private medical clinics have opened in the province they serve the rich want to have medical appointments and small surgical procedures at times precisely convenient to them. Meanwhile, the public health system is supported by the overwhelming majority of all Canadians, and over 95% have no interest in moving to an American style system, or even a partial American style system. Yes, there are insurance corporations, doctors and clinics that would love to have a bigger share of the market, and they are constantly funding ‘studies’ to promote private medicine and competition as the cure for all ills in the system, but so far, despite spending millions, they haven’t overthrown much.
I have no idea why you thought a sidestep to include Pelosi would help bolster your position, but she can’t even light a candle to some of the over-the-top rhetoric that’s been screamed at the American public lately, most of it coming from the fringes of the right wing. (I am no fan of Pelosi, although she may redeem herself somewhat in my eyes if she does force the inclusion of a robust Public Option.)
Obama doesn’t seem to have a socialist bone in his body, as far as the healthcare legislation is concerned. Oh yes, he talks about helping Americans and he feigns horror at the plight of the uninsured, but he met with representatives from the medical and drug insurance lobbies, and let them write the legislation for their own benefit. The mandates in the legislation, as it now stands, do not resemble any socialized medicine anywhere. Instead they create a pool of people for the corporations to plunder at will.
But ask yourself, Mike – how is it that other OECD countries spend, on average, half of what the United States spends on healthcare, and yet the US ranks in 37th place as far as the health of their citizens is concerned, measuring things like life expectancy and infant mortality? Don’t you think that maybe some other countries have better systems than yours? Perhaps capitalism and the health insurance business are not a perfect match for each other, and perhaps maximizing shareholder profits shouldn’t be the overreaching goal of the healthcare system.
A “single payer” (i.e. taxpayer paid) system or any other socialized health care program is the last thing you want enacted if you want to block illegal aliens from also getting in on it. The Supreme Court has held that if the government provides a service to it’s citizens, it has to provide it to everyone, including illegal aliens. A non-profit, non-government coverage system may be created and block coverage by illegal aliens.
The down side is, the way it’s currently run, illegal immigrants will still go to emergency rooms. I think we need to start fining EVERYONE who is caught hiring illegal immigrants (even private citizens) and use those fines to pay down the unpaid emergency room bills. On the second fine, It’s doubled, and the person who hires them serves time. When a hospital treats illegals, they need to be required to contact the Immigration and Nationalization Service to take them into custody and deport them after treatment and they are stable enough for transportation.
I don’t care how long they have been secretly living in the US. They want to immigrate, they need to go home and get in line, and follow the laws like everyone else who want’s to immigrate. Nor do I think they should be rewarded for the time the lived and worked in the US as Illegals. No other country in the world puts up with this sh*t, and we shouldn’t either. I have nothing at all against legal immigration, but we owe nothing to people who refuse to follow the law.
@Mike’s America:
Mike, I believe you doth protest too much. Your Calgary man is such a statistical anomaly that he’s not worth mentioning to support your argument. The overwhelming majority of doctors and patients in Alberta are part of the public healthcare system, and, although some private medical clinics have opened in the province they serve the rich want to have medical appointments and small surgical procedures at times precisely convenient to them. Meanwhile, the public health system is supported by the overwhelming majority of all Canadians, and over 95% have no interest in moving to an American style system, or even a partial American style system. Yes, there are insurance corporations, doctors and clinics that would love to have a bigger share of the market, and they are constantly funding ‘studies’ to promote private medicine and competition as the cure for all ills in the system, but so far, despite spending millions, they haven’t overthrown much.
I have no idea why you thought a sidestep to include Pelosi would help bolster your position, but she can’t even light a candle to some of the over-the-top rhetoric that’s been screamed at the American public lately, most of it coming from the fringes of the right wing. (I am no fan of Pelosi, although she may redeem herself somewhat in my eyes if she does force the inclusion of a robust Public Option.)
Obama doesn’t seem to have a socialist bone in his body, as far as the healthcare legislation is concerned. Oh yes, he talks about helping Americans and he feigns horror at the plight of the uninsured, but he met with representatives from the medical and drug insurance lobbies, and let them write the legislation for their own benefit. The mandates in the legislation, as it now stands, do not resemble any socialized medicine anywhere. Instead they create a pool of people for the corporations to plunder at will.
But ask yourself, Mike – how is it that other OECD countries spend, on average, half of what the United States spends on healthcare, and yet the US ranks in 37th place as far as the health of their citizens is concerned, measuring things like life expectancy and infant mortality? Don’t you think that maybe some other countries have better systems than yours? Perhaps capitalism and the health insurance business are not a perfect match for each other, and perhaps maximizing shareholder profits shouldn’t be the overreaching goal of the healthcare system.
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Attn: Larry W, this video is for you.
If anyone can imbed this; thanks in advance.
[Embed done - Aye]
A “single payer” (i.e. taxpayer paid) system or any other socialized health care program is the last thing you want enacted if you want to block illegal aliens from also getting in on it. The Supreme Court has held that if the government provides a service to it’s citizens, it has to provide it to everyone, including illegal aliens. A non-profit, non-government coverage system may be created and block coverage by illegal aliens.
The down side is, the way it’s currently run, illegal immigrants will still go to emergency rooms. I think we need to start fining EVERYONE who is caught hiring illegal immigrants (even private citizens) and use those fines to pay down the unpaid emergency room bills. On the second fine, It’s doubled, and the person who hires them serves time. When a hospital treats illegals, they need to be required to contact the Immigration and Nationalization Service to take them into custody and deport them after treatment and they are stable enough for transportation.
I don’t care how long they have been secretly living in the US. They want to immigrate, they need to go home and get in line, and follow the laws like everyone else who want’s to immigrate. Nor do I think they should be rewarded for the time the lived and worked in the US as Illegals. No other country in the world puts up with this sh*t, and we shouldn’t either. I have nothing at all against legal immigration, but we owe nothing to people who refuse to follow the law.