i didn't go to the .govt site, i looked at two or 3 others though before trying to engage. there are over 300 million in the american population. let's say 50 million don't have insurance to give me an easy number to calculate....okay, that's.....roughly 15% of the population. so roughly 85% of the population is insured. you're asking that 85%, who have their plans, who have spent years paying into their plans, and now they're being asked to go into the unknown to provide for the 15% who are without? there is no debate that the system needs to be reformed -- one side evidently had it at the bottom of its to-do list, the other has it at the top of its to-do list. it is hard to expect 85% of the population to sacrifice their heathcare to provide for the 15% who don't have it, especially when there are so many questions.
i'm not sure of the work laws for those under the age of 18, but i would be surprised if there are "a lot" of 25 year olds who have spent 10 years of their lives paying taxes.
the aarp is one of the largest lobbying groups and has over 35 million members, and that membership is expected to grow as baby boomers age. maybe you can't blame obama for being trigger happy and endorsing his plan for them, but maybe he should have been a little more subtle.
Universal single payer will be enacted on the state level and will happen under the radar while the republican shouters feel good about making noise at town hall meetings. States are doing studies and finding single payer is the most cost effective way to go on health care period.
(rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor.)
"Canada did not establish its national health care program with a bold, immediate political move by the federal government.
The initial progress came at the provincial level, led by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's Tommy Douglas when he served from 1941 to 1960 premier of Saskatchewan. The universal, publicly-funded "single-payer" health care system that Douglas and his socialist allies developed in Saskatchewan proved to be so successful and so popular that it was eventually adopted by other provinces and, ultimately, by Canada's federal government.
For his efforts, Douglas would be hailed in a national survey as "The Greatest Canadian" of all time. But Douglas' regional initiative also offers a lesson for Americans.
Those of us who know that the only real cure for what ails the U.S. health care system is a universal public plan that provides health care for all Americans while controlling costs recognize the frustrating reality that there are many economic and political barriers to the federal action that would create a single-payer system. This makes clearing the way experimentation at the state level all the more important.
And, remarkably, the forces of real reform have won a congressional victory on that front, a victory that ought not be underestimated.
By a 25-19 vote, the House Committee on Education and Labor on Friday approved an amendment to the House's health-care reform bill allowing states to create single-payer health care systems if they so choose".
http://www.truthout.org/071909B
