Eloquently put, Aramike. I don't entirely agree with you; I wouldn't favor a government option for healthcare of any kind, but reading your post was one of life's simple joys. I swear, if someone as level-headed and well-spoken as you ever gets put into public office, I might regain some faith in our political system.
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Originally Posted by mookiemookie
If you think the insurance companies haven't poured millions of dollars into whipping up the masses against real health care reform, you're fooling yourself.
But by all means, go ahead and let millions of people die because your corporate masters want to score cheap political points against the other side.
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As much as I hate the idea, I have to jump on the mookie-bashing bandwagon now. In all fairness, mookie is one of the most intelligent liberals I have ever met. If there was ever a hope for liberalism to really take root in the educated public, mookie would be its' scion. Come to think of it, if people like mookie were in office, I might not have such a problem with liberalism.
Unfortunately, this post is an exception.
Think for a moment, mookie. We are talking about profit-driven healthcare entities here. Moreover, we are talking about successful (as in....profitable) healthcare insurance providers. The whole freaking insurance industry is based upon risk assessment and analysis. What do you think their natural response to even semi-nationalization of the healthcare sytem is going to be? They aren't going to simply watch as the state cannibalizes their business, they're going to lobby like hell to get into the state healthcare program.
What you call "real" healthcare reform is simply an open invitation for plutocracy and purposeful incompetence. It is an invitation to state- enforced monopoly; the worst possible kind of monopoly.
Are you impressed by the lacklustre systems of socialized healthcare employed by other nations? Are you oblivious to the nigh-universal desireability of the US healthcare system? Do you really think that our heretofore incompetent legislative branch is going to put in place an effective system? Did our legislative system suddenly become motivated by something other than personal gain?
Damnit, mookie, you are smarter than that. Why on God's green earth would you wish to replace an imperfect industry with a
fiat imperfect industry!? At least we have a choice in a privatized healthcare sytem.
And don't give me any of that crap about so-called "government option".
Private interests are naturally going to gravitate towards the govenment option. They're paying for it already, so why shouldn't they use it? It is more cost-effective.
What you don't seem to see is how this legislation is perverting the market. The state is going to wreck any semblance of truth in price and supply and demand that remains.
You wouldn't let the state make grocery decisions for you for obvious reasons, so why would you let it make healthcare decisions for you? The state does not play by the same rules as we do. It is, by all measures, a plutocratic entity. It must be guarded against and watched with vigilance.
The state is not a genie which will magically effect reforms upon society. It is an entity that is as self-interested as any person or corporation, and one should be very careful when seeking its' aid.