Health-care for everyone; what's so radical about that?

What is it about the concept of providing health care for everyone, as such a radical idea?Put aside whether you're Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green, Libertarian, whatever, and consider how most of the civilized world provides a safety net for those unfortunate enough not to have any means to a doctor or medical care and coverage.

Except us, the US, the richest country on the planet, of course which to many of us, me included, seems utterly obscene.

45 million Americans have NO health care coverage. I don't have all the raw data, and I know that there's a sizable number of people who simply choose not to buy insurance, most likely due to the fact that it is too expensive. Pardon me but that is frickin' crazy. That is nonsense. This is scary.

We elected a President last year and one of his main campaign promises was to enact major health-care reform legislation. Don't muddle my head with various statistics about the cost of it all. I know. Frankly, I don't care. And stop with endless diatribes about "socialist medicine" and about this issue being Obama's waterloo. Oh really?

Tell you what, give a listen here. I think there's a lot of people like myself who could give a rat's patoon about the costs. It sure as hell beats the alternative. Have you seen the hospital emergency rooms lately? Overflowing with people who are sick and have nowhere to turn? Who do you think pays for that?

Or have you read about the average Joe putting aside the trip to the doctor's office for that mysterious pain in his hip because he's afraid he may need further care and can't afford it? There's something sick about that. It's positively pathetic for a nation as rich as ours that cannot in someway shape or form provide some sort of safety net for the people who really need it, and god, are they're folks out there right now that are in that boat.

So, again, yeah, I know anything involving government-run programs scares the living crap out of a lot of people. The same people who now have the best insurance in the country. Fine.
This isn't about you. This is about the ones who aren't as lucky as you and your family. This is, frankly, about common sense and decency. It would be great to take those elements into account once and awhile.

I acknowledge the huge complexities of this issue. Fine, get about 20 blue-ribbon panels together and figure it out! Screw the schmucks out there who want to maintain the status-quo--sorry, that ain't working. Doctors? You'll get your money, someway and somehow. Nurses too. Yeah, I know we have a shortage of nurses, but something tells me that if we can send men to the moon, create massive, super computers, and launch inter-continental missiles, then we can all figure out a way to solve this mess. Today. Now.

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