[Professor S]

A lot to respond to here, so I'll try and move in order and be brief.

1) Polls

This is what I was referring to:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._recent_months

There is a lot in there, but to sum it up about half of Americans considered their care good or excellent, but only 18% considered it poor. Those numbers don't exactly confirm or deny the 70% numbers I had seen bandied about, but it definitely shows many more Americans consider their healthcare to be good or better than those who consider it bad. When it comes to healthcare, I just don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Now if the questions in the polling were do you think America has good healthcare, those numbers would be significantly different, and they always have been. People always think things are much worse for others than they are for themselves.

I also ignored the overly positive numbers solely from those with insurance, because they are irrelevant to this discussion.

2) Control - If you control the money, you control the care. I see little difference in getting a paycheck or a reimbursement. In the end it's quibbling over small points. Money = Control and if the government has the money they control your healthcare and can dictate how you are treated by dictating what they'll pay for.

As for the "optional" nature of this, well thats more of a myth than anything. I detailed this in previous posts.

3) Public Schools - I never said people talked about shutting down public schools, but A LOT of people want their money to follow their child to a private school due to the poor nature of many public schools, especially in inner cities. There was actually a huge debate about this from a voucher program in DC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060802041.html

4) Other options - The Republicans do have a platform to address healthcare, but no one seems to listen or care. Much of this is a procedural problem because the Republicans have a pretty severe minority right now and Nancy Pelosi simply son't allow most of these ideas to be discussed on the floor of the house.

Here is a link to the Republican Healthcare Platform, much of it I support, some I don't entirely. I'll quote some important parts. The whole thing is a pretty good read, however, whether you agree with it or not, and please try and read it with an open mind.

http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/HealthCare.htm

Empower Individuals to Make the Best Health Care Choices.

Clear information about health care empowers patients. It lets consumers make better decisions about where to spend their health care dollars, thereby fostering competition and lowering costs. Patients must have information to make sound decisions about their health care providers, hospitals, and insurance companies.

Protect Good Health Care Providers from Frivolous Lawsuits

Every patient must have access to legal remedies for malpractice, but meritless lawsuits drive up insurance rates to outrageous levels and ultimately drive up the number of uninsured. Frivolous lawsuits also drive up the cost of health care as health care providers are forced to practice defensive medicine, such as ordering unnecessary tests. Many leave their practices rather than deal with the current system. This emergency demands medical liability reform.

Reward Good Health Care Providers for Delivering Real Results

Patients deserve access to health care providers they trust who will personalize and coordinate their care to ensure they receive the right treatment with the right health care provider at the right time. Providers should be paid for keeping people well, not for the number of tests they run or procedures they perform. The current cookie-cutter system of reimbursement needs restructuring from the view of the patient, not the accountant or Washington bureaucrat.

Drive Costs Down With Interstate Competition

A state-regulated national market for health insurance means more competition, more choice, and lower costs. Families – as well as fraternal societies, churches and community groups, and small employers – should be able to purchase policies across state lines. The best practices and lowest prices should be available in every state. We call upon state legislators to carefully consider the cost of medical mandates, and we salute those Republican governors who are leading the way in demonstrating ways to provide affordable health care options.