This kind of ignorance makes me crazy. It’s bad enough to deal with the disinformation from the Right; we’ve got it coming from the Left as well.
All the other countries do industrialized democracies have national health care systems set up so that everyone has access to basic health care. But few other countries have true single-payer systems. Most have mixed public and private systems. This is true of France, long rated number one for health care on the planet. France does not have single-payer health care, but it does have one of the best national health care systems that we would do very well to copy.
See also Joshua Holland.
So glad someone else is being driven ‘crazy’ by this health-care debacle-called-a- debate. We’re not just being bombarded with the usual dissembling, distortion, straw-men etc. from politicians, we’re being told outright lies.
And then there’s the, usually, Canadian horror story of untreated illnesses and thousands flocking south to take advantage of the “best health-care system in the world.” Anybody ever met one of the ‘thousands’ to get the full story? Of course not, not to mention how being number 37 in health-care quality world-wide makes us number 1 by a mere stroke of a lying politico thug. I’m really pissed about this whole thing.
I think in Susan’s case she honestly doesn’t know that a “national” health care system is not necessarily “single payer.” We’re dealing with semantic noise here.
I can hear the wingers now: “FRANCE??!! Copy France?!?! That commie, pinko socialist, snobby Ur-o-peann country? “
I suggest that instead of single payer, we have three-bullet medical coverage. Everyone can buy a gun for $1, and three bullets for $.33 for each bullet. We can go to our gun dealer’s and ask for “The Blue Dog” discount.
Why 3 bullet’s? The 2nd is there just case the you miss on the first attempt; and 3, in case the first two shots don’t finish the job.
This will make Big Pharma, Big Health Care, and the NRA happy! It’s a win, win, win proposition!!! And all it will cost is $2 per person. And if there are any bullet’s left, they can be refunded, or saved to be used by the next family member. Because, remember, sharing is caring….
Another troubling aspect of getting national health care is time is of the essence. We are heading into a bad fall and winter of swine flu or whatever they want to call it to pretty it up, and these peeps take time off. I am glad they are happy with their job security and medical care. My guess is both are sweetheart deals just like their mortgages were.
cu, your “solution” sounds like what I’ve often wanted to propose to wingnuts: that they outsource their kids. They’re nothing but a drain on the bottom line.
This is driving me crazy too. I spent a couple hours last night correcting my friends on facebook who seem to think universal health care is the name for Britain’s socialist system. I was confused at first when a friend mocked “universal health care” and then I realized she didn’t know what she was talking about…shouldn’t everyone (everyone with a beating heart, that is) be in favor of every citizen having coverage?
I think that lack of knowledge is the single thing that will kill this, though I do hold out hope that something will pass.
felicity, just read your comment and that reminded me of a rebuttal I posted last night on Facebook…a very good read on the Canadian system (funny too) that debunks a lot of the myths:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/reality%20check%20reality%20check/1783177/story.html
Pass it along!
c u n d gulag sheesh.. I am thinking swine flu might be a better option.
Maha, Thanks for coming to my defense over ‘semantics,’ sort of. Nice to be the subject of someone else’s blog, though.
mcconnell $3.3M, hatch $2.9M, baucus $2.8M, lieberman $2.6M, boehner $1.7M, cantor $1.8M paid by the Medical Industrial Complex to kill Health Care Reform.
Follow the Money: Link
Call Congress and demand, Single-Payer Health Care for All Now!
Sign Single-Payer Petition: Link
SEMPER FI!
In some cases, I don’t think it’s ignorance as much as a lack of precision with words. Sometimes terms get thrown around interchangeably when they shouldn’t. No argument, though, that most Americans aren’t aware of how other countries handle health care and how the U.S. compares. Also, single-payer shouldn’t be off the table (and I think at the least should be used as a bargaining chip), but some national plans that aren’t single payer are very effective.
That said, I’m pretty appalled by Enzi, Baucus, Grassley, Snowe and the gang. The less influence they have on the final bill, the better. Funny how they never care about cost when we’re blowing up crap in foreign lands, huh?