Seriously, folks... Tasers and O.J.?

[Mythsaje]

Really, now. Hillary just unveiled her healthcare plan and, frankly, it sucks like an electrolux. Not that she's alone in this. All the top-tier candidates have these cobbled-together, Freakenstein Monster plans that are little more than giveaways to the insurance companies and ridiculously onerous for the average citizen in the long run.

I particularly didn't like Hillary's quote about envisioning a day when providing proof of insurance would be a part of a job interview. We're Americans. We pay taxes. We should be getting something beyond rampant military/industrial and prison/industrial complexes for our money.

Do we really think this is the best we can do? The best we can get? Well, apparently so, since only a few of us have started kicking up a fuss about this here on DU. Anyone with half a lick of sense would reject ALL of these plans as being bad for Americans and bad for America. They're like slapping a bunch of bandaids over a festering gut wound.

We need something simple and effective, not something you need a PhD to decipher. You want to sell Americans on your healthcare plan? Just say "It's not complicated. You're sick or hurt, you go to the doctor, and WE pay for it. We ALL pay for it."

We could easily fund such a program by earmarking cigarette and alcohol taxes for healthcare rather than allowing the states to pull it into a general fund. Some state sales taxes on cigarettes borders on exploitation, since they provide very little benefit to those who are themselves harmed by the behavior in question. Using it to fund universal, single-payer health benefits for all, however, would definitely be a positive step.

We could also legalize cannabis as well, and tax it too, but that's an argument for another day.

Regardless, universal, single-payer healthcare is within our reach and we shouldn't tolerate anything less. We should all stand up and respond to these so-called plans with a resounding "NO WAY!"

They can do better, and it's up to us to make sure they do.

[krispos42]

1. OJ and Tasers? I'd pay to see that.

I'd pay more to be the one with the taser!

As to the single-payer universal insurance, I'm with you. It's stupid for everybody but the insurance companies to be paying 30% of our insurance dollar for the privilage of some plan bureaucrat rejecting a claim!

[PDenton]

2. At this point I will take something over nothing

I want to hear more details on her plan. It may not be perfect but it is a move in the right direction. I especially like the fact that insurance companies will be required to accept people regardless of pre-existing conditions.

[Mythsaje]

3. You think requiring the citizens to make sure they're covered

is an improvement?

Yeah, the pre-existing conditions thing is good. It's about time that came up. But how much will someone with a pre-existing condition be required to PAY? Is that part of the plan?

"We don't know what the problem is--we offer insurance to everyone. Of course, their premiums are double that of a healthy person, but, hey, that's not OUR fault, is it?"

I trust these bastards like I trust a cocaine dealer. Less, maybe, because the coke dealer can't hide behind the government.

edited for clarity

[PDenton]

4. that is why I'd like to see details

However, it is good that all the candidates have a plan. I just hope they are sincere about their plans because some of us need good health insurance.

I don't think single payer is the only way to go. Alot of industrialized countries, such as Japan, Germany, Sweden, etc. do not use single payer systems and have OK healthcare. OTOH, some singlepayer systems, such as Canada's, always have financial problems.

[Mythsaje]

5. We could pay for it by earmarking our sin taxes...

As long as we could keep the greedy official fingers out of the fund.

I happen to think the insurance companies are part of the problem...a BIG part of the problem. They aren't regulated worth a damn and even if we try, the first time they get the chance some knucklehead Repug or conservative "Democrat" will try to deregulate them again.

Get them out of the business entirely. End for-profit healthcare in this country.

[Beerboy]

6. Tasers are much more important than OJ;

Tasers are something that's actually worth investing some hard-earned cash into. OJ? Not so much, unless you live in a black neighborhood.
OJ is innocent, and/or whitey's racist!!! :beer:
FREE OJ NOW!
I mean c'mon, don't 96 % of all the black people you know and work with want all the honkeys dead? They all think the same, just like all white people do.
Wouldn't it be a horrible thing if whites and blacks and asians could work together ? Such a thing surely must be a travesty. Everyone should sue white people, the straight ones.
edited to add: tasers + OJB-)

[BB1]

7. We could also legalize cannabis as well, and tax it too, but that's an argument for another day.

I keep saying that. All countries need to legalize - it pays off.

[Mythsaje]

8. I've been saying it for years...

The Drug War is not only a waste of time and resources, particularly with regards to cannabis, but it's eminently racist in both inception and application. Legalize hemp, legalize cannabis, and use it to help pay for things that need to be funded. It's not as though the pot-smokers would complain.

I love the argument "that's what the drug smugglers/dealers WANT."

Okay, they're drug smugglers/dealers. They're not STUPID. Why would they want something that would hurt their business?

Of course, you can no more have a rational discussion with a drug warrior than you can a religious fundamentalist.