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Thank you for your post.
"History has demonstrated that American was not interested in Mr. & Mrs. Clinton's idea of universal health care."
It's true that the majority of Americans did not support it. However, the majority of Democrats suported it, and the majority of Crankyland liberals supported it. I don't think any Crankyland liberals have any serious objection to the Clinton health care plan.
I hope you really did read the article. It explains how the Clinton plan, which was supported by many Democrats, including many of the Crankyland liberals, would create major violations of civil rights, and major violations of people's privacy. The government would control all access to health care, and all choices. And it would be illegal for people to spend their own money to purchase extra service. This plan was suported by many Democrats, including many Crankyland liberals.
"I haven't seen Republicans propose a solution of their own. Or Libertarians, for that matter."
Then perhaps you need to look beyond the mainstream media. The truth is, that if you actually read a diversity of media outlets, then you would be fully aware of the idea of medical savings acccounts, which is a great idea that has receieved very strong support from libertarians and conservatives. I started a thread on this recently, but no one commented on the idea. It's located here:
http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/princessandthewarrior/11.html
Libertarians and conservatives have offered many different ideas on how to reform health care. The Cato Institute and Reason magazine have published many articles giving ideas on how to make health care better. Conservative organizations like National Review and The Heritage Foundation, as well as the Wall St. Journal, have also published many ideas, too.
Now, you may disagree with these ideas 100%. But to claim that conservatives and libertarians never proposed any ideas is simply not true.
"Once again you demonstrate that you are more concerned with your own well-being than that of the nation as a whole."
That's not true. Just because you disagree with my ideas doesn't mean that I don't care about the well being of the country's population. Your statement makes it look like you ae attacking me as a person, instead of attacking my ideas.
A lot of liberals have claimed that I don't care about the poor, don't care about people, etc., and these claims are false.
You could certainly try to agrue that I am mistaken in my ideas, or that I am misguided, or that I am misinformed. But to claim that I don't care is simply not logical.
"If you
have an idea that will give poor people access to decent
medical care, please propose it."
I would like to see a repeal of the state laws that make it illegal for insurance companies to offer a bare bones policy. Right now, state laws require insurance policies to cover all sorts of extras that not all people necessarily want. These regulations vary from state to state. These laws should be repealed, so that basic, low cost, bare bones policies would be legal.
Also, we need to change the tax code so that it doesn't discrimiate against medical savings accounts.
If the government does want to pay for health insurance for poor poeple, then the government should give people a voucher so they can shop for a private policy of their own choosing. It would be a lot like food stamps. The government would pay for it, but people would still have 100% choice in the kind of policy that they obtained.
"Republicans love to criticize Democratic ideas with arguments like these - but they never discuss how to solve the problem any other way."
Yes they have. Anyone who reads National Review, or reads publications from The Heritage Foundation, or reads the Wall St. Journal, is quite familiar with various Republican proposals on health insurance. You may disagree with these proposals, but, it's not accurate to say that these policies have never been proposed.
"They just invoke the "too expensive!" argument and wash their hands of the poor and needy."
Republicans' main argument against government programs to help the poor has never been that these programs are too expensive. Instead, Republicans' main argument against these programs is that these programs encourage dependency and illegitimacy, and that they discourage hard work and planning for the future. To disagree with Republicans on their claims is one thing. But to claim that Republicans don't care is simply false.
There was no "health care crises" or huge rise in the cost of medical care until after medicare and medicade were created. Republicans and Libertarians have both raised the very accurate point that when people can use health care at government expense, this greatly drives up the demand for health care, which greatly drives up the price. If you had actually paid attention to the Republicans' and Libertarians' idea of medical savings accounts, then you would know that medical savings accounts address this problem. And you would also know that, in the few areas where medical savings accounts have been tried, they have been a huge success. Patients have more choices in their health care, and costs are reduced. And you would also know that the only reason that medical savings accounts aren't more common is because the tax code discriminates against them. You would know that several Republicans have tried, unsuccessfully, to pass legislation to end this discrimination in the tax code. You would know these things, if you were actually paying serious attention to libertarians and conservatives. If you just do a simple google search on "medical savings accounts" you will see that libertarians and conservatives have been very active in supporting and discussing all of these things.
Anyway, going back to the Clinton plan, most Crankyland liberals were big supporters of the Clinton health care plan when it was proposed, and the majority of the Democrats in the U.S. were also in favor of it. Anyone who reads that article will see that the plan is very totalitarian, that it creates fines and jail time for people who try to use their own money to seek out their own choices in health care, that it greatly restricts people's choices and access to health care, and that it creates major violations of privacy. And remember, most Cranklyland liberals, and most Democrats, were in favor of it.
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