Health care reform...why not?
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Thursday, March 11, 2010 19:40
VIEWED: 2349
PAGE 3 of 3
And on THAT point, I do believe we have a consensus.
-F
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Hear hear!
Part of the problem, in my view, is that "shit or get off the pot" is something America has trouble with--we try to mix business and government too much, then often have to put regulation on business because it gets out of hand, and away we go with a patchwork society.
I'm CERTAINLY not for total socialization, but I wish there were a way business would regulat itself better on its own; or even take the long view, instead of tomorrow's profits. I'd be ALL for capitalism if that were the way it was, but it's not, sadly.
"I'm just right. Kinda like the sun rising in the east and the world being round...its not a need its just the way it is." The Delusional "Hero", 3/1/10
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Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
I'm CERTAINLY not for total socialization...
I'm not necessarily saying we have to go to one extreme or the other. But we need to draw explicit lines between them. If we want to provide basic health care for the poor, for example, as a government service, we can do that and still leave the rest of it as a market commodity. We just have to make sure it isn't a cash cow for the health care industry.
And as far as the long view, all of us are complicit in that weakness. That's what leads us into these regulation quagmires in the first place. The financial situation is the perfect case in point. The way to ensure that companies have a healthy respect for the long term is to let them fail when they are shortsighted. But we aren't willing to take the hit to allow that to happen. So we bail them out and the lesson they learn is that those bailouts are pretty cool, and that getting in bed with government is the key to success. It's voters and their reps who allow this crap - because we aren't willing to consider things in the long term and insist that we can have it all, right now.
SergeantX
"It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"
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Ahhh, the 'Murikan way: "I want it all, NOW!" Yup.
I'm not sure about the bank bailouts, given the global situation. My instincts say they were bad, but I don't know enough about global finance to be sure. The thing I HATE (given that we ARE a mixed breed between government and corporations) is that they weren't regulated so that they couldn't DO this shit again...instead they're going on their merry way, doing the same damned shit, and nobody's stopping them.
As to health insurance, I'm not sure your solution would solve the existing problems. But a Medicare Buy-In, I think, would go a long ways!
I don't see a strict delineation between the two as possible, given how far down the road we've gone. I see the best start as CAMPAIGN REFORM!
"I'm just right. Kinda like the sun rising in the east and the world being round...its not a need its just the way it is." The Delusional "Hero", 3/1/10
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