Why Democrats Cannot Give up on Health Reform Now

mensa of Ca wrote: "Practically every western, industrialized country in the modern age provides universal, government-run health care."

So your lame-brained theory is that the United States should be like everyone else? Did you ever stop to consider that every western, industrialized nation's socialized medicine is crap? Long waiting lines, Little or no coverage, incompetent doctors, little or no testing leading to inaccurate/poor diagnosis, cheap/ineffective generic meds, subjective health commissions.

Do you realize that most are either broke or going broke? And you think it will be DIFFERENT in the United States? Please! You live in a utopian fantasy world.

Why did a canadian politician, Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams (the equivalent of a state governor) leave Canada to have his heart surgery performed in the United States? I mean, if Canada's socialized medicine is so much better, why did he elect to have his surgery in the United States? Simple, our health care is better.

Did you stop to think that practically every western, industrialized country in the modern age has depended on America's military might to protect them? Consequently, those nations did little military spending. What did they do with the savings courtesy of the USA? They plowed the savings into their social programs. So it should be easy to fund socialized medicine, yet even they are on the verge of bankruptcy. Canada's system is broke as a joke.

Furthermore, Mensa of CA wrote: "FOR SHAME, republicans who are against providing this basic, fundamental human right (health care coverage) to the masses of their own people...Americans who need, deserve, and want health care coverage."

Here's a quick civics lesson for you, Mensa. No where in the constitution are people guaranteed freedom from sickness and death? NOWHERE!! Repubs don't deny people anyting. If someone wants health care then they are free to go and get it.

Is it going to cost? Absolutely, but then again, nothing is free. Cost is a consequence to our freedom of choice. The fact that you and others don't have health care coverage is not my problem or America's problem. Why? Because those who don't have it made a decision at some point in their life that it wasn't that important . . . at least, while they were healthy. Oh, but now they suddenly want health care because their health is failing. Cry me a bucket!!

Folks who don't have health insurance, to mix metaphors, are like people who drive their cars and do not pay car insurance. Yet, they expect insurance companies to pony-up responsibility when they get into an accident. Absurd!

Are there problems with our health care system? Sure. But those problems pale in comparison to the problems that will be created by a massive entitlement program. Yet, despite the problems, we still have the best health care in the world.

david of ID 1:01PM March 01, 2010

Every election since 2008 and every poll since this trainwreck of a health care "reform" bill has developed shows that most Americans do not want this bill. If it fails, which is increasingly likely, and the Democrats lose big next November, also increasingly likely, this now majority party has only itself to blame. When they lead, they do not listen to the people. And this leads to failure, to include the failure of this particular bill. What Democrats hate is to genuinely deal with what Republicans want, at least to the extent that it coincides with what the people want. This will lead to their losses in November. One final point: Can anyone imagine if the Republicans had this kind of majority in the Congress and the White House that they would be facing such a failure in leadership today? The answer to this question is at the heart of the Democrats' problem that no "passage" of this trainwreck called health care reform can remedy.

Richard K. ErkenBrack of VA 5:29PM February 28, 2010

There is no doubt that this is what we want. It's the means to achieve it that is the focus of debate. I think Republicans are ideologically opposed to the idea and of course they stand to lose when Democrats can score a big victory. So the position they have taken is somewhat understandable.

Then there are those who don't think the reforms in either the Senate or House versions would get us on the path to affordable health care costs. But while we can't say with certainty the precise economic impact, we know the status quo is not sustainable anyway. Better we try something that may nor may not work to our satisfaction and continue to work on it than to just argue back and forth endlessly.

We are a democracy and do learn from the mistakes of our political decision-making. We can change our leadership and government policies in response to how they're working for the country. Right now, we have given the Democrats the upperhand on this issue and it's their call entirely if Republicans have nothing to offer at the table.

jon of IN 12:29PM February 28, 2010

There is overwhelming poll proof (in any poll examined) that a large majority of American people want no part of this government takeover at all. Yet all the progressive dem can do and always do is to create unsustainable bureaucracies as can be witnessed by any government social plan already in existence. Just look at the last 100 years and what these systems have created under Liberal policies. Any and all of their programs have become unsustainable and bankrupt, costing 20 times there originally quoted costs, and full of fraud far beyond any free market system!! This is America, not England, not France, and not Canada. Health care is not a basic fundamental right as others on this site would like to portray and have us believe! Where in the constitution or the Bill of Rights is health care stated to be an inalienable right or one that should be provided and protected by this government? Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The constitution was created to protect the people from its own government, protect us from tyranny which eveolves from a Liberty grabbing government issuing mandates and intrusions into their lives. It has not been created to provide government the means of controlling the people further and dimishing their individual Liberties, incrementally or otherwise. Instead of instituting "free market solutions" to the health care problems this country faces that will still enable innovation and the maintenance of the highest quality of health care that this country currently posses, all the dems can offer is a plan that will ultimately diminish the quality of health care itself, cause the rationing of this care, and diminish any innovation of Health care that is not approved by the Federal government. This is a fact. If you don't examine history you will be condemed to repeate it. All one needs to do is to look at Canada, England and France to see the fate of the US under this take over plan. All that is offered to the American people through this Bill, in the very best light, is a diminishment of the best health care in the world to mediocrity of Health care itself, and a furthered erosion of individual Liberty for each and every individual in this country. The whole Bill is a power grab of the Federal government and nothing more. Not a very pretty picture if you take the time to really research these other countries health care systems and their inherent problems that their socialistic institutions have caused their people. To maintain Liberty for all Americans perhaps we should revisit our founding fathers. Perhaps Benjamin Franklyn said it best and we should all take heed. “He who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”.

Pat B of NY 8:27AM February 28, 2010