Klarinet Archive - Posting 000545.txt from 2004/07

From: "Erik Tkal" <bbtkal@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Political Rant - do not open if you are offended
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:41:57 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Charette
>=20
> On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:
> > Sorry if you were offended. We have a major crisis in the United =
States=20
> > in both the quality of health care and the costs involved.
>=20
> Quality?=20

------------------

I suspect that is tongue in cheek, and I also suspect that you agree =
with Walt...

<soapbox>

As for proposing solutions ourselves, hah! That's not likely to get =
anywhere. It isn't until someone in power proposes a reasonable set of =
solutions that anything will change. And even that will be extremely =
difficult given the influence that the insurance industry and the drug =
companies hold on Washington.

From a previous post I made on the last rant go-around (was not entirely =
related):=20

"If we put half the money and effort that we put into this "war" instead =
into fixing our roads and our schools and our health care system, and =
kept our collective nose out of other countries' business (qv Bush's =
recent comments to the EU, Isreal/Palestine, etc, etc, etc), then such =
terrorists would have no reason or desire to attack us. There is no =
excuse for our behaviour other than greed and arrogance and hubris."

We're into a deficit of half a trillion dollars, mainly due to tax cuts =
for the wealthiest, military spending, and no-bid contracts to big =
corporations like Halliburton. And yet we are reducing the budgets for =
schools and health care, forcing states to have to cut back more, as =
well as causing profit-based providers to scrimp and cut corners =
everywhere. Of course, this penny-pinching causes the lack of =
healthcare, due to the unwillingness of insurers and the reluctance of =
employers, meaning preventative care such as annual physicals turns into =
emergency-room visits for minor maladies, that in itself driving up =
costs even further!

The reason a socialist system of health care has not worked well here is =
because of greed. No matter what you implement, somebody has to always =
modify it, insert loopholes, restructure it to their advantage. As long =
as we have a greed-based culture we are doomed. It would be simple to =
implement a national tax-based healthcare system, as long as there are =
open financial books, open discussion on payouts to providers, and =
dedicated oversight that is bent on imprving the system and not taking =
advantage of it.

Erik

</soapbox>

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