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Demand a Vote on the Public Option. Send petition to Speaker of the House.

If you want to Contribute to Alan Grayson (FL-08)

Obama didnt say this

"Because premiums would be equal to cost, the program would pay for itself."

How many times do you have to hear that fucking lie before you realize it is just that....a lie. Name me ONE government program that "pays for itself"? Just one....Amtrak was supposed to pay for itself, so was the Post Office and Cash for Clunkers.

He also is trying to play the competition card which is another lie. If the government has an endless supply of GUARANTEED money (which it takes by force) and can sell it's service for less than what any other company could ever do, you will get LESS competition not more. That isn't offering up competition, that is predatory pricing to destroy competition.

www.ask.com/wiki/Price_war

^Because like most programs, there is bureaucracy. Things get watered down, other indirect programs affect them, the opposition does what it can to see them fail.

It's a bitch, but the point is to try to make things better (not perfect.)

^ the nhs pays for itself, what they do is take as much of my money as they can, then say they havnt got enough and demand more. its foolproof

Yet you expect the very same system to make it better??? The system ITSELF is what needs an overhaul. Kind of like washing your dishes with dirty dishwater. You may be "washing" the dishes, but you are not cleaning the dishes. I mean look at Medicare and Medicade that the government has run. If it actually fucking worked.....would we be sitting here talking about a public option to our already set up public option that doesn't work? I love how the idea of tort reform is scoffed at. For fuck sakes you HAVE to have tort reform if you want an NHS style system. If you didn't the system would eat itself. Regardless of which way we go...that is something that just has to happen as a first step.

^
I completely agree with you that the system is all fucked up. You won't get any argument there.  Right you are, if we overhauled the system, then the direct effects of it would be less corruption, less wasteful spending, perhaps more efficient govt, BUT the sad truth is we are stuck w/ this shitty system. Whether we like it or not, it's going to be shitty for a long time. In fact it will undoubtedly get worse. Much worse. Your make a valid point about Medicare, but it's a semi-functioning program swimming in a pool full of sludge. One could say that it would work much better if it didn't have all the bureaucratic bullshit and special interest crap mucking it up. If it had a serious chance and attention put on it (like going to a Single Payer system,) then we'd be more likely to gauge the productivity of it closer.

And yes I agree with you, we do need Tort Reform, but that's the least of our worries. We have to control the money. Campaign finance reform, Lobbying, Special Interests; regulations on Banks/Credit Cards/Lenders, cut the defense budget, end the wars and spend more money on building the country.

I know that sounds like Liberal chants, but it's simple math. We spend more money on things that don't ultimately make us safer or help us much at all.

^
yeah but the majority of people don't want to take care of that, they will let the politicians take care of the taxes, the money or whatever. Most people don't have the slightest idea how exactly a government works so they will let the "qualified" people do their job- problem is most of those "qualified" people have the IQ of a rubber hammer. The majority of people are sheep that need a wolf to guide them or they will sit idle all day.

imagine if that money was used to help people and get 100% employment. wait, i forgot, socialism is evil yar, trickle down economics is where its at...

^
right on
America, fuck yeah!

@Caps

Most of those don't sound like liberal chants to me. They sound more like Libertarian chants.

"Your make a valid point about Medicare, but it's a semi-functioning program swimming in a pool full of sludge."

So what makes you think another government system (especially a bureaucratic heavy one like single payer) is not going to become exactly the same?

Look, it is my body. Not the governments and not the insurance company's. I think we HAVE to take care of the older folks that our government promised they would. But what we need is tort reform, high-deductible insurance for younger workers and using health savings accounts. If more people were on high-deductible ins. there would be MORE competition which means lower prices. Also if businesses offered to put money into your HSA every year and it rolled over (ala Whole Foods) you could not only use that money for WHATEVER health related service you wanted, it would cut out so much bullshit politics. Want an abortion? You can go get one w/o anyone crying about tax money. Want to use homoeopathic treatment? Do it. Acupuncture? No problem. Want to use it to pay some or ALL of your down on your high deductible insurance if something terrible happens? Sure. But if you are so stupid that you spend it all on Botox, that is your problem. I like this plan because it...

A. Makes you responsible for your own health
B. It bolsters freedom of choice
C. It saves everyone money
D. You do not have to spend money to set up a new system from whole cloth. HSA and high deductible ins. are already available.
E. It would FORCE hospitals and doctors to menu list their services
F. Your medical records would remain private
G. It gives you a buffer if you are between jobs. At the worst you could use money from your HSA to pay for your ins. plan until you find another job.
H. Creates REAL competition and encourages new tech

^
Hey, I'm on Board! When can we get started....oh wait, we're back to that pesky o'l fucked up system of ours. However, I have to disagree with your pay-as-you-go health care setup. I think health care is a fundamental right of the people and it should be dealt with like the post office, fire department, or police. I know post office isn't doing well atm, but that's not the fault of the government, it's just the adverse affects of the internet being a better competition. If health care was a govt setup run by tax dollars, we'd be more invested in it, regulate the waste more, and I'm sure everyone will be willing (or come around) when they see how great it is to walk into a hospital w/o having discussions about how to pay instead of what is ailing us.,

I know  the government is so broken we can only expect little change at a time. Sadly first step is bullshit health care that will save only 30 million more (instead of universal health care.)