Reagrding Health Care, Dear Democrats....

[Towntalk]

The New York Times recently ran an article on Health Care costs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/health/18health.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

The multimedia chart that goes with the article shows what we here in Ohio are paying along with all the other states.

[Towntalk]

There is no question about it, for cities like Youngstown, this is a huge problem.

BUT WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT SHORT OF SOCIALIZED MEDICINE LIKE THEY HAVE IN CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, THE NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, OR ANY OF THE OTHER COUNTRIES THAT HAVE SOCIALIZED MEDICINE?

America's Health Care System is spinning out of control price wise, and it has reached the point where it's hitting Middle Class America exceptionally hard. The poor have resources such as Medicaid, and the elderly have both Medicaid and Medicare, but those in the Middle Class and the Working Poor must either spend a huge portion of their money on high priced Health Insurance or pay their bills and put food on the table.

There was a time when we had Charity Hospitals where the poor and working poor could get medical care, but the costs have risen to the point where these hospitals can no longer survive and had to either sell out or go to For Profit.

Again, most drug companies have programs whereby we can get drugs at a reduced rate, but even here, there are so many strings attached that most people can't take advantage of them.

The question is, are we willing to be handed huge tax increases to pay for Health Care plans like Hillary Clinton proposes which would amount to about $110 Billion a year that would be tacked onto all the other taxes we already pay?

For my part, I don't know what we can do.

We can't institute price control over Health Care saying that Doctors, Hospitals, and Drug Companies must abide by a price schedule set by Washington without having it impact on the quality of services.

America is already losing it's best Doctors at an alarming rate because of the costs of Malpractice Insurance, so what would happen if on top of that they were told that they must also abide by pricing schedules set by bureaucrats in Washington?

[jay]

I know many people who work but do not have health care.

There has been some discussion of the health care issue on the Ron Verb show the last few days. His program is on WKBN radio, 570-AM, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

[Towntalk]

If Canada has such a great health care system, why would a member of the Canadian Parlament come down to the United States for Breast Cancer treatment?

Think about it ... a member of Parlament. If the Canadian Parlament has the same benefits that members of Congress have, you'd think that they would be given VIP treatment in the finest Canadian hospital with the very best doctors treating her, yet she elected to come here for surgery at one of our hospitals.

The article from the Totonto Star can be found on the paper's web site, and I have linked to it on my web site

http://farrell-report.tripod.com

This is not a rare occurrence. People from Canada are coming to the States for medical treatment rather than have all the wait and red tape that is part and parcel of the Canadian Health Care system.

To be sure, Americans take trips to Canada for cheap prescription drugs, but do they travel to Canada for hospital care?

Free womb to tomb health care sounds great until you consider that it would cost some $110 billion a year and where does government get its money? If you say TAXES you're absolutely right.

[shantrivialand]

Pretty well said Towntalk. 

[Towntalk]

Some people really have not a clue about what it would mean for socialized medicine to be implemented here, and these are the same people who see nothing wrong in robbing from one group of people to give free medical care to the masses.

Have they any real clue about the real life problems in Canada - England - France - Russia - China and other countries that have free medical care? Do they not read the daily papers from these countries, or do they simply rely on a gang of socialists?

Does anyone seriously want to live in a country where the state puts a gun to their heads and tell them - you either take it or die?

Does anyone seriously want to live in a country where the state puts a gun in their back and tell them that 80 - 90% of their income belongs to the state and if they cheat on their taxes they go to prison until the last penny is paid back?

Does anyone seriously want to see the day come when America has evolved into a socialist state where their life is controlled by the state from birth to the grave?

This is precisely what is happening right here and right now, and I document it on a daily basis on my web site.

I'm old, and past my working days, but I think about what is going to happen for our children and our children's children, and the picture is quite bleak, and the bottom line is that all the political parties are making their contribution to the decline of America's Middle Class ... each and every one of them.

Wake up and smell the coffee for once and realize that our days as the greatest country are fading fast.

Try to buy American products ... they're there, but every year another company leaves our shores. Try to find a good paying job ... they're out there, but growing fewer every year.

Try to buy a good decent home in a safe neighborhood where you can raise your children in peace and you end up with a mortgage that takes every spare dime you have ... and face foreclosure the minute you lose your job, get sick, or have the bread winner die.

Don't tell us that the Green Party ... or any other party has the magic potion that will be our salvation.

[sfc_oliver]

     Sorry but what I keep hearing is either socialized medicine or forced medicine. There are many young people out there with jobs where they could elect to have healthcare. They choose not to pay for it, they believe they are superman or woman. I wonder what the number of people without healthcare would be if they were not counted.
     And assuming that most Americans want socialized medicine? I don't think so. At least i sure hope not. How do we fix our healthcare? I haven't a clue. No where near an expert on it. But i know this much It sure isn't easy to get the social security law ;that took 6 months of healthcare coverage away from my wife; fixed.

[Towntalk]

Here is the Health Care plan that Hillary Clinton proposes:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=3321

[Towntalk]

Tell us the rest of the story:

1. HUGE TAX INCREASES.

2. LONG WAITING TIMES.

NOTHING IS FREE ... NOT EVEN HEALTH CARE. We do NOT see American doctors rushing off to Canada, the UK or France all of which have serious doctor shortages, and THAT IS A FACT! All three countries are having to import new doctors.

Tax the rich?

Just how much should we tax the so-called wealthiest Americans? 50% - 75% - 95% of their gross assets?

Why not just just say that if a person earns over $100,000.00 a year that 100% taxes will be imposed on him?

The Clinton Health scheme would cost $110 Billion a year according to all the news reports out today. To get to that amount without raising the taxes on the Middle Class, Congress would have to raise the tax ceiling for the rich to at least 90%.

Do you seriously think that corporations would stay here in America if there was MANDATORY health care insurance, or do you seriously think that Insurance Companies would even have health insurance if all their profits were eaten up by Mandatory corporate taxes that were as high as 75% annually?

Medicare and Medicade are already in fiscal trouble as is Social Security so obviously placing the burdin on these programs will break their bank a whole lot sooner.

[irishbobcat]

Published on Monday, September 17, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Dear Democrats
by Russell Mokhiber
Dear Democrats:

You have a problem.

A serious problem.

Forget, for a moment, the war in Iraq.

Try the war at home.

Focus for a moment.

On the war between the American people and the health insurance industry.

Today, your likely standard bearer for President, the woman who would vanquish those corporate Republicans from the White House, one corporate Democratic Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, will announce her health care plan.

It will not be single payer.

It will not be Canadian-style cradle to grave, everybody in, nobody out, Medicare for all.

No, that would drive Hillary's key financial supporters - the health insurance corporations - out of business.

Instead, Hillarycare is a plan the health insurance corporations will love, something that Mitt Romney and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could love - a plan that mandates that every individual go out and pay for his or her own health insurance coverage - like auto insurance.

You must be covered - or you will pay a fine.

And it's not just Hillary.

Among the Democrat candidates on the Presidential stage - Dennis Kucinich is the only Democrat to support a single payer, Canadian-style health care system.

Not Obama, not Edwards, not Hillary, not Dodd, not Biden, not Richardson,
not even Gravel.

None of them will deliver what the majority of the American people want.

What England, and France and Germany and Canada have but we don't.

No premiums.

No deductibles.

No co-pays.

No in-network.

No out-of-network.

Just everybody take the money you are now paying for health insurance and put it into one pot.

And everyone is covered in a system that's more efficient.

That saves billions of dollars.

That covers everyone.

Cradle to grave.

That delivers higher quality health care.

For everyone.

It's the only decent way.

And the Democratic Party, the so-called party of the people, is on course to nominate a candidate for President who will put forth not a single payer plan, but a proposal that will save the health insurance industry and prolong the misery of the American people.

And you, the majority of Democrats who consider yourselves decent, honorable, progressive thinking people, will enter the voting booth next November and vote for that candidate.

The so called least worst.

And you will vote with the health insurance industry.

And against the American people.

Shame on you.

Shame on you all.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter.

The Green Party is the only party that supports single-payer, universal health care.

The Ohio Green Party supports SPAN Ohio: [ spanohio.org ]
The petition to get the Health Care For All Ohioans Act on the ballot has been certified. The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) needs volunteers in all 88 Ohio counties to help collect signatures.

For more information, contact:
SPANHealthCare@aol.com ,
call 216-736-4766,
or visit spanohio.org


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