Universal Health Care

I really don't get why certain people begrudge health care for others. "Well, sure, I think everyone should be able to go to the doctor... but not if it raises my taxes!" Since when did the American people become so selfish, so single-minded?

My wife and our son and I went to a democratic rally over the weekend, and the number of people outside the gates holding anti-health care signs were amazing. They somehow equate health care reform with Communism, trojan horses (whatever the hell that even means,) and Socialism. Personally, I'm all for Socialism, but what the dems are considering is so far from Socialism it's ridiculous. The idea of universal health care has been watered down to a public option, and now we probably won't even get that.

And speaking of which, I just love the argument that "the USA is bigger than (Canada, the UK, France, Germany, whatever) so we can't afford universal health care." There's a hole in that argument so huge that you could drive a fleet of Haliburton trucks through it. Yes, we ARE bigger - but so is our GNP. We'd have to spend more money to make universal health care happen, but, not so ironically, we also have more money to spend. If the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France can make universal health care work - and, yes, despite that the Republicans might want you to believe, it DOES indeed work - then why can't we?

At this point, I'm not going to be satisfied with anything less than a public option. I have no clue whether it's going to happen or not, but it needs to happen. It would be the first step toward true universal health care, which should be everyone's ultimate goal.

Except, of course, for the conservatives, who would prefer the massive insurance companies just keep on making money hand over fist and denying sick people and people who can't afford health insurance health care, their supposed Christian values be damned.