The Cartoon Version of "Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance"

DON'T HAVE FACEBOOK, THANKS FOR SHARING. HAVE ENOUGH TO DO WITH GATHER.

All the ill-educated gatherers should see this as a third grader would understand.
the explanation is simple enough for even the dimmest bulb here that thinks everything liberal is evil.

Yes, because we all know that Obama is the anti-christ.

I noticed that the "well-run by government examples " were largely local services (fire , water treatment); It forgot to mention that despite underpaying for nearly everything Medicare is still going broke rapidly; It fails to recognize the dangers of throwing out Federalism in such a decision; and as is likely in such a format, overly simplistic; but I expect that it was intended for the "hope-change" chanters. Well-done.

Thanks for the movie review. I still think you ought to see a doctor as you're looking a little green around the gills. Hope you've got good health insurance.

So your claim that we want a federal government take over is a lie.
yes, most of our public services are state, county, local.

But, yup, we do love our Federal Programs.

If Medicare is soooooooooo bad, why are the Republicans promising a "Medicare Bill of Rights" guaranteeing no changes in coverage, but, ooops forgot to mention costs?

Medicare Plan D Prescription.

I know what you want,
You want the Republican plan.
Just like the Drug plan.
NO cost controls, mandatory, enrollment, tax credits direct to the Insurance companies, well the poor won't qualify for tax credits large enough for coverage....so sorry. But, but, it is ok. The Insurance companies will get rich, rich, richer.

I think you've got the picture Cena.

Thanks, Carla. That was a good video to help some understand why health reform is a good idea. Of course, many won't believe it as they already have their minds made up. Medicare won't go broke if the system is fixed. All the profit can be returned to health care and reduced health costs.

Whatever it takes. And unfortunately you're probably right. There are some that don't keep an open mind.

I could name a few, but then, you'd get tagged and I'd feel terrible. ;)

No problem... go for it!

Good resource to have available. Tnx

I keep trying. People usually need to hear something several times before they finally get it.

But our pals the repugnicons only seem to believe lies.

They believe what they want to believe--and what Fox tells them to believe.

I enjoyed the cartoon Carla.

Good! Spread it around!

Excellent! Yes, it made a very clear case for why government run health care should not scare people.

I thought so too. Share it with your friends and family.

I have one reason for not trusting the government with my health care. And it is a government run system. If the government was getting that right and doing a good job, I might agree with you that government run healthcare would be a good thing, but its track record is abismal.

What is the government healthcare program that is so screwed up. It is called the Veterans Adminstration, I am willing to be that many of you thought I was going to say Medicare/Medicaid. No we all know that not only are those programs fraught with corruption, waste and more and more doctors are opting out just so they can stay in business.

No, recent investigations of many of the VA Hospitals found that they couldn't even pass basic health inspections for cleanliness, then there is the whole thing about improperly cleaned colonoscopy equipme that infect our vets with HIV at Walter Reed.

The VA system is FUBAR (F*** Beyond All Recognisition), and it is run buy the US Goverment, that is the system progressive on the left are advicating.

Secondly, I have a question. How and where are you going to get the doctors? Canada's biggest problem is the fact that their doctors immigrate to the US so they can make money, no accept what the Canadian Goverment will pay them.

So you think the health insurance companies are doing a good job? Talk about "death panels"....

And Joseph, we are the country with a shortage of doctors. France, which has the best health care in the world, has no shortage and they pay less for it.

Carla, this isn't an either/or propostion. 80% of the US population likes the US medical system. That is fact. Scrapping the system for the sake of 20% is financially irresponsible.

As for France, let me clue you in on Frances dirty little secrete, not everyone living in France gets free health care. Those who are immigrants to France, but have yet to recieve French citizenship DO NOT QUALIFY for free health care.

Next up, the United States has over 6 times the population of France. 60+ Million for France vs 400+ Million for the US.

I could only find stats for 2002, but they illustrate the issue there are 2.3 doctors for every 1,000 people in the US, where there were 3.3 doctors per 1,000 people in France. The short form of this is, there is 1 more doctor per 1000 people in France than the US.

So the question is legitimate, where are you going to get the doctors? If you don't increase the number of doctors, it doesn't matter what you do, there are going to be problems and rationing of care.

Many of the healthcare issues in the US could be solved by doing a few things. I actually wrote a list things that wouldn't cost the tax payer a thing, you can find it at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977205806, but then on second though, don't it will only raise your blood pressure.

Joseph,

Not sure what your line of reasoning is since it contradicts itself. If there are more doctors per 1000 French, but only 2.3 doctors per 1000 here, then perhaps we do need to look at the French system.

You state: "Many of the health care issues in the US could be solved by doing a few things" And I'm sure that is a fact! But what are you trying to say?

Problems and rationing of health care? Yep, we've got those right here in River City USA! No need to sucK in the French system as we have perfectly good samples right here.

Basically, your argument boils down to "I've got mine and to hell with anyone else!" That's the old American spirit.

Please note that no one is proposing "scrapping the US system and going to government delivered health care." We are still getting to the insurance scams throughout the nation. Lets just leave the delivery of services alone for now!

Just what problems do you see from the rationing of care that we already have with bean counters determining whether the treatment your doctor recommends is good or bad?

All in all, excellent comments and I hope you spread them widely!

James, If you take a look at HR 3200, it is a total scraping of the current system, and one of the warnings about is a comment by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI 14 District) which can be seen here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbwND52rrw about just reading the bloody bill, i.e. he is going to vote for it without actually reading it.

What I was driving at about the number of doctors, is a basic question

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE DOCTORS?

How are you going to convince people to become doctors if the government is dictating how much they can earn? Right now to become a doctor (please note I am doing this from memory so my numbers may be a bit off), you spend 8 years in college and nearly a quarter of million dollars in debt, the average doctor will pay off all of their student loans by the time they are 52 (Part of the reason for this is that doctors have to pay for CED courses to maintain certification thusly slowing down how fast they can pay off their student loans).

So the question remain, and a damn important one is, where are you going to get the doctors to treat everyone?

E V E R Y Republican president since Nixon had shorted the Vets,

Geo. W. had to be shamed into doing something even as he
demanded troops for Iraq.

Cena, cogress have been crapping on vets since the founding of this country. You ought to read the letter George Washington wrote to congress about paying the soldiers, it was the closest thing you will see to George cursing.

Yes, it was shameful the conditions that were found at Walter Reed. But it was set up to filter the troops coming back from Iraq and send them on to other veterans' hospitals.

i was born in detroit & now live in the detroit metro area. john conyers & his crook for a wife are career politicians who only know how to screw citizens out of money to fill their own greedy pockets with. he is a disgrace to the democratic party & a disgrace to detroit.

i've been going round & round with my brother-in-law about health care reform. you see, he's retired air force, a tried & true conservative right wing republican. he does not want government run health care. in his last email to me, he stated...."i don't know how this is going to play out. i'm glad i have my VA coverage."

for every unhappy veteran you find, i can find a happy one. my last email to my brother-in-law was....."i'm glad you like your government run health care. do they take good care of you? or are there death panels when you reach a certain age?" i have not yet received a reply from him.

Great cartoon. Some skulls are to thick to penetrate however.

I would like to add one aditional thing, check out the following article I wrote some time ago

Why Government Social Reform Programs Don't Work

JOSEPH V
No thank you.

If government social reforms don't work, why are the Medicare beneficiaries being promised by the Republican Party a Medicare Bill of Rights.

Because the Republicans, like the Democrats, will lie, cheat, and steal for the privileges of power.

Cena, do you think that I am a Republican?

OMFG!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

I'm a constitutional libertarian. I despise Republicans and Democrats equally. They are just two sides of the same authoritarian coin. Other than the time I voted for George Bush Sr., I have voted for a libertarian canidate just about every election.

My real question would be, why don't you want to read what I wrote? From a psych viewpoint, it means you honestly don't believe in your cause, if you don't read the other view points, you are walking down a road of arrogant illusions.

There is this assumption by many who argue for progressive left programs, that those of us who disagree with them do so because we don't want to help or don't care about other peoples misfortunes or plight in life. That we are incapable of being charitable.

The fact of the mater is, we are charitable, but we want to be charitable on our terms, and have a choice in what charities to help. And to be honest, that is the reason the progressive left demonizes us.

What makes government unique is one feature, and one feature only, and that feature is coercion, the use of force and the threat of force to make people comply with its dictates. This is how government differs from every other aspect of society. Others persuade, government compels.

When someone says "There Ought To Be A Law!" What they are really saying, with a head full of vicious intentions, is they want others to do things their way and use governmental force to compel them to do it their way.

And by "force" I mean the real thing. The kind that hurts people. It is at work in every government program, though the programs supporters will readily admit it, that is unless you back them into a corner about it.

If sounds like a sweeping statement, you obviously haven't tried to resist a government program. If you did, you would find out in a short period of time that it was backed and enforced by a gun in the hands of a government officer.

The US Internal Revenue Service likes to say that the US tax system is based on voluntary compliance. Which is true as long as you comply, the system is voluntary. But, the second that you decide not to comply, you'll find yourself in a different system. One in which you will be forced to pay.

Getting the government to do what you want can be an attractive prospect, especially if you don't have to admit, even to yourself, how you are getting what you want.

If you want to feed the destitute, you won't have to persuade hundreds of people to donate money. You get the government to force millions of people to contribute

If you own a business and it is losing customers, you don't have to try and match your competitors. You can get the government to establish licensing laws or impose taxes and tariffs that gets the competition out of your hair.

If you don't want people reading things you think are indecent. You can just get the government to put the smut peddlers out of business

Government power and its ability to coerce, means that controlling government is the grand prize. It beckons as a shortcut to riches and the ability to impose your tastes on everyone. With government at your disposal, it appears that you can bypass the tedious process of earning a living, spreading the gospel, or persuading others that you are right. With the government at your disposal you can just pass a law.

Joseph, a country without any government? Well, no thank you. Government isn't the problem. Bad government is the problem.

Carla, you are missing the point. And I never said to get rid of goverment.

What I have been saying is, when goverment gets involved there is going to be problems.

Since around 1965, HHS spending has risen from around 6% of the National Budget to nearly 40% today, that is a 600% increase, yet the same relatie percentage of the population still needs help.

Now, speaking as a Catholic, I resent my tax dollars being used to fund abortions, not only here in the US, but around the world. But I am not being given a choice in the matter.

This is the danger of government controled charity programs. It creates resentment among those who are literally force to pay for things they don't agree with, or makes them accessory after the fact in actions that are against their religious beliefs. The second you start dismissing peoples religious beliefs, you will open Pandor's box with no way of closing it.

When government controlled charity isnt charity, it is redistrubution of wealth through the initiation of force or the threat of initiation of force, which under any definition, it is theft chasing some mystical, and at its roots imaginary "greater good."

Joseph, so do you appreciate having to pay for a fire department which everyone uses even though you may not have to use its services?

Every developed country has a universal health care program but us--some since the early 1900's. As someone who is Catholic, I would think that you would believe in the teachings of Jesus--"what you do for the least of them, you do for me." He also said to "render to Caesar what is Caesar's". He believed in paying taxes and helping others. Charities can't take care of all the sick. I know because I work for Catholic Charities Hospice. We count on government programs.

Health care is about a civil right. No one should be discriminated against because they are sick. That is what is happening in this country. Our death panels are called insurance companies.

To start off with Carla, you first mistake is to think that health care is a 'right'.

Health care is not a right, because the second you treat it as a right, people think they can do anything and others will pay for their bad decisions.

I don't have a problem with having my taxes use to pay for things like, roads, fire departments, police, the courts, national defense, even sewage & water treatment plants because we ALL benefit, not just a fraction of the population.

Something like the fire department is a form of insurance, same with the police and the courts.

Carla, let me ask you a question, wouldn't more people give money if they had to give it? One of the problems facing families today, is the simple fact that, according to the Tax Foundation, Americans pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.

Do you know why DOCTORS, fight cross state border portability of insurance?

I do, I was listening to NPR, and found out that Medicare/Medicaid pays doctors differently depending on what state they are in. For example if Medicare pay $500 for a procedure in Florida, they may only pay $400 to a doctor in Washington State for the same proceedure (this is just an example, to illustrate the point, the formulas used is some arcane mess that took 30 pages and requires a computer to calculate).

Let me show you the difference between private and public, with myself as the example. This back in July.

On July 4th of this year, my wife and I were heading over to relatives and I started suffering sever chest pains, the closest hospital was Kern Medical Center (It is run by Kern County, and is the main trauma center). I get there, BP is 186 over 124, pulse 84, pains running down my left arm and it hurts to breath. 30 minutes later, and only because the pain was getting worse and my wife got in the face of the triage nurse, did I finaly get to see a doctor. It took them 6 tries before they finally got a pic line into my arms, I got nothing for pain for 5 hours, becaue the first doctor who saw me left and didn't leave notes that I hadn't been given any thing, even though I compalined about the pain and that nothing had been given to me. Thoug they did note that my blood glucose level was 350, and a couple hours later 272 (for those of you who don't know, a normal blood glucose level should be between 100 & 150). they Run a EKG. They finally get me something for the pain, can't find anything and send me home.

The following day I feel like hell and am sick all day. I still feel like hell by Monday. My wife takes me to Mercy SW (Catholic Hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy). No sooner do I get there, I am checked in, the doctor gets the story of what happened to me, I sign the HIPPA papers so they can pull my records from KMC, and I watch a doctor sware in both english and hindie, that was rather facinating. I was admitted and with one chemical stress test (not an experience I ever want to repeat), a hemoglobin A1C, as well as a battery of other tests, in three days the doctors at Mercy determine that I have a heart arythmia and Type 2 Diabetes.

I filed a complaint with the Admin at KMC, and it is going into the jacket of the people that didn't really treat me, but nothing is gonna be done about it, I did send a copy of my complaint to the Kern County Coroner's Office, just to put it in the records so if the pull that crap with someone else there will be a record that it wasn't the first time it had happened.

There is no doubt in my mind that if the Democrats get their way, what happend to me in July will become a common occurance all over America.

Equal Rights, does not mean Equal Things. Yes, Jesus did admonish us to "pay Caesar's things to Caesar' and 'what you do for the lest of them, you do for me'. But I would ask that you look up the story of the bread & fishes, one of the things Jesus did, was leave, and stopped performing the miracle to feed the multitude, because he did not want them to become dependent on him for food and sustenance.

I am always amazed at all the people who know so much about the medical profession through reading a lot and believing everything they read. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are in the field because they truly love it. Salaries are important, yes. Loans have to be repaid. But if we clean up the system, the net pay would be a whole lot more and doctors would actually get more of their salary than they do now.

Has anyone ever asked the actual medical students why they are there? Why assume? Every doctor and nurse I know (and I know a lot, being one myself) wants this corrupt medical system changed. We want what's best for the patient, not the insurance company, not the suing lawyers, not the vested interests (pharmys, hospitals, share holders, etc)

50+ years ago the medical profession attempted to limit the numbers of doctors in order to fatten their salaries. That was then, this is now. There are so many specialties and so many ways of "doing business", most people are clamoring to be in the field. But I know a lot of medical professionals who are sick and tired of never being able to adequately treat someone because of costs and insurance interference. Although salaries have finally started to increase for nurses and other ancillary personnel, staffing problems will always exist.

People need to wake up and see the truth and get off their warped band wagon.

And there is not a plan on the table that accomplishes that Elsie. That's the problem.

Seems to be having a single payer plan would accomplish a whole lot. And there is a plan for that. But it's being sabatoged by the right with lies and deliberate misconceptions the vulnerable and scared people fear is true. We need to keep the truth forefront and scream and yell everytime someone tells the lies.

How is a single payer system going to make things less expensive and improve services? It would do the opposite. Instead of some Americans not having health care, everyone would have the same crappy care. I mean, if we're going to destroy the system, let's just ban insurance companies all together. That would drop the price of services by 65% over night. Obviously, I don't think that's a good idea, but its a better idea than a single payer system.

It's taking out the middle man, Steven. Right now the "death panel" is the health insurance company. They decide if they will pay for a transplant or treatment. They take their money off the top and then pass on what is left to those that actually do the patient care. What good are insurance companies? I'll wait for your reply...

Steven....still waiting.....

That was certainly was fun to watch and even those who listen to limbaugh and Fox news should be able to understand it.

Thanks for posting this to Obama YES! Palin ~ NO!

I am e-mailing the You Tube video to thirty-three people. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Carla, you are doing much good.

So are you, Leo. Thanks for getting the word out.

I do not use face book.

You don't have to.

It is safe to click through and watch the video. You don't have to join.

There is one aspect of this debate that I think very few people ever get.

The US Medical System IS NOT BROKEN.

That being said, there are parts of the medical system that are broken and need to be fixed.

A monster bill like HR3200 is the equivilent of performing an engine overhaul, when all you really need to do is replace a spark plug.

I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would think of the current health-care debate. He and his colleagues fought a war to rid themselves of a king who made their decisions for them. The fought to establish the first nation whose guiding principle was freedom from government.

But today our "protectors" in Washington DC are busily scheming to take away our power to bargain with our employers or employees, the freedom to choose your own doctor, the freedom of obtain the kind insurance you need, the freedom of doctors to set their own fees (just as politicians do), the freedom to obtain the kind of insurance you need, and the freedom to live your own life and be responsible for yourself.

I'm sure the politicians think Thomas Jefferson is looking down upon them with approval. After all, it was he who wrote the immortal words:

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and Health Insurance You Can Never Lose.