• Front page
• Receive letters on your RSS reader

Steve Baur of Westminster writes:

Enough already!
It’s fine to point out the flaws, waste, and inefficiencies in America’s health-care system.
But to compare it to the socialized systems of island nations like England, Cuba, or, most egregiously, Japan, is not fair at all.
First, these island nations have rational immigration policies which geography assists them in enforcing. Although I don’t think Cuba is exactly swamped with immigrant applications.
But the point is that, if a country doesn’t import poverty as we do, willy-nilly, across our southern border, it won’t have poor survival rates for newborns.
But Japan?
Gimme a break!
Try to sneak into the country! Try to overstay your visa! Try to become a citizen! Non-Japanese natives, as well as foreign-born Japanese ethnics, have enough trouble gaining citizenship. You and I have no shot at all.
But if we did live in Japan, we’d wake up every morning in a society where people think first, not of their rights, but of their duties to family and society.
Most Japanese would never dream of receiving benefits without contributing in return.
Such a sense of duty is probably the most essential ingredient to making any socialized program work.
And if you haven’t noticed, we sorely lack that sense.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

Yeah everyone in the world wants the U.S. to have a "sense of duty" That way we can be forced to"share" everything we have with everyone else and to hell with our own citizens!

Jo,

That's what we do now with Iraq etc. It's A OK to send Billionds to Iraq but try to help your fellow Americans with health care and you are a socialist. Try helping out those less fortunate than you are a bleeding heart helping those with their hands out that won't help themselves.

Your bunghole, brought to you by PBS....
and its really--YOUR--bunghole!

Does daddy have any boyfriends, does mommy have any girlfirends...did you reall,y really see them doing that? ...with guns?

Socialized medicine, coming to a bedroom near YOU!

Like the bumper sticker states...

REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE PLAN
DON'T GET SICK

Well, if it's on a bumper sticker it must be true. It must be great to be a liberal; you can sum up all of your beliefs in clever little bumper stickers.

I want one of those bumper stickers, where can I get one. I'm not a republican or a democrat but my humor does turn to the absurdities of political fencing but, that one only has seven words and I think it's hilarious.

Democrat Health Care: Send the bill to your neighbor.

lets have the same people run it who run the TSA and it will be all that your want. you wont need a job as your job will be standing in line to get free stuff like food. ever hear of the bread lines in russia?

Steve,
Good letter, thank you for taking the time to write it.

What would really be egregious is to fail to look closely at the health care systems of other countries, whether or not they are surrounded by water, to see if we can learn something from them. That requires a degree of comparison. Steve's letter is childish.

We've already compared our health care to other nations. We do it all the time. Comparison to other countries is the reason why we have not converted to a socialized health care system.

Wake up John II:
We already have socialize medicine. As we sit here and blog at this time millions across this country are receiving medical attention that don't have insurance. Who do you think is paying those bills? All I hear cons do is bitch about socialize med. but we have a serious healthcare problem and your only answer is turn them away and let them die. Well we don't do that in this country and that is what separates us from the rest of the world. If that is what you want then you move to one of those countries.

"We already have socialize medicine. As we sit here and blog at this time millions across this country are receiving medical attention that don't have insurance. Who do you think is paying those bills? All I hear cons do is bitch about socialize med. but we have a serious healthcare problem and your only answer is turn them away and let them die. Well we don't do that in this country and that is what separates us from the rest of the world. If that is what you want then you move to one of those countries."

So are you arguing that it would be beneficial to increase the amount we already pay for other people's healthcare? Exactly when did the United States gain access to the unlimited resources that it would take to not "turn them away", whoever "them" is? I love how benevolent people become when it's other people's money. When is the last time you volunteered your time at a homeless shelter larry? Ever? Or are you one of those people that thinks that giving the guy on the corner the 40 cents on your dashboard is a great act of charity? Or how about donating your money to an organization like the WHO that tries to make life-saving drugs affordable to the Third World rather than wanting free healthcare for hypochondriacs with the sniffles? The worst off American has it better than most of the people on the planet, my empathy goes to the kids in Africa/India/China who don't get to make it to an age where they can appreciate what a horrible death they suffered through, let alone grow to an age where they can become smug college collectivists that think they know how to spend other people's money better than they themselves do. And yes, I do put effort into trying to help those kids that can't help themselves, rather than whiny American adults who would rather sit around feeling self-pity than do something productive with themselves, through a life of research on making anti-diarrheals more affordable. I realize that's not as prestigous as being an elitist East Coast Ivy League educated lawyer profiting on the inequities of the justice system, but millions of kids still die each year of dehydration associated with diarrhea, and I'd like to see more of them reach an age where they can chart their own path. So what benevolent acts have you performed today, other than educating us cold-hearted conservatives about what evil monsters we are?

The W. Bush veto on health care for children (dumping another two hundred $billion into dark hole Iraq) while enjoying free health care now and the rest of his life; however, he has a special affinity for the brain dead alluding to Terry Schiavo whose autopsy and all doctors proved brain dead when he appeared in his pajamas before a joint session of Congress he called in the middle of Easter in the middle of the night April 2005 when he perpetrated a fraud upon America, claiming today the jury is still out on evolution. Talk about ignorance in priests:

Deicide Corner: She commented upon some "ignorant" priests on board. “No wonder their 'flocks' are 'low in education.'” -- Emily Palmer Cape, writing about priests she met on a cruise

10:44

I hate to tell you this because I know you don't want to realize it but you're already paying for the heathcare of others plus, if you have insurance, you're subsidizing them too.

The more a person devotes his time and energy to helping the underprivileged, the more he favors universal health care, and the more he favors a compassionate government which extends help to the underprivileged.

"I hate to tell you this because I know you don't want to realize it but you're already paying for the heathcare of others plus, if you have insurance, you're subsidizing them too."

Stan/Charles/Sharon, I'm well aware of that fact, which is one of the reasons that I don't want to have to pay even more through a tax hike. And by the way, creating a bunch of aliases to agree with each other on every thread isn't clever, doesn't make your position stronger, and actually makes it seem weaker.

"The more a person devotes his time and energy to helping the underprivileged, the more he favors universal health care, and the more he favors a compassionate government which extends help to the underprivileged."

Here's a nice baseless assertion. Have any sort of objective, empirical evidence to support that? Doubt it, but I'd love to hear you try. Here's another baseless assertion that will probably piss you off.

The fewer tax dollars one pays, the more likely they are to support government handout programs at the expense of people who aren't losers.

9:46,

I don't know Sharon or Charles, but if one doesn't pay $800 a month for insurance premiums, which may or may not pay for certain procedures, one can afford the extra tax which would surely be less than $800 a month. Oh, and if your insurance company won't cover a certain procedure you'll have to pay for it on top of your insurance premium. Add it up sometime and see if you haven't paid way more in insurance than you would have paid for medical expenses outright. You may not like the term "socialized medicine" but that's what we have and you've been payng for insurance on top of it. Next time you have a medical problem, ask your insurance company or agent to perform the needed treatment.

John II,
Serve cheese with your whine when you need heart by-pass surgery and your insurance convers half of the $200k bill and you receive a bill in the mail for the balance. Loose your home? Bankruptcy? Let's see how quick you vote republican then.

Karl,
In 2005, about $2 trillion was spent on health care in the U.S., which makes those billions sent to Iraq by comparison chump change. If those billions were spent on health care instead, it wouldn't make one whit of difference.

And the issue isn't helping the needy. The issue is forcing people who had nothing to do with the treatment to foot the the bill.

POST A COMMENT

• Mike Littwin
• Iraq war not about “protecting our interests”
• Bill Johnson & CSU’s editorial
• Amy Goodman writing about Bush
• Ignorance no excuse
• Columbus & Thanksgiving days
• Neveah Gallegos
• Keeping track of at-risk babies