remind me of spoiled children in that they cannot see anything beyond themselves; everything is somehow about them. If 'it'– whatever it may be – does not directly effect them, it's almost as if it doesn't exist.

There's no healthcare crisis because they're doing just fine. George Bush is a great president because he's the sort of guy they would want to have a beer with (never mind that he is a liar that has never actually have to earn anything in his life, who believes that nothing is more persuasive that the barrel of a gun or a carrier group making it's way across the ocean, intimidating through a show of force).

There also appears to be no concept of a greater good amongst these people.

Iraq is going well, though the part that they don't see seems to indicate the latter (you know, all the Iraqi civilian deaths, as well as the deaths of our soldiers. These things just aren't happening if you judge it by how often the media reports on them. And of course, if they are not reported in the media, it's as if it never happened).

In any other setting, such behavior would be almost pathological, though these days behaviors once thought to be dishonorable and criminal are now almost virtuous.

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Having worked in Long term care- I can attest that there are MD's who did not graduate at the top of their class and intentionally milk the insurance comapanies to increase their profits- while totally disreagarding th ereal welfare of their patients. tehre are some who are willing to even sacrific their patients for 'profession'adoration and recognition.
So the suffix M.D or D.O means little to me inregards to the level of committment someone has to real health care concerns of the average American- Hypocratic, can sometimes be easily misconstrued into Hypocritical.
i feel for Mrs Edward plight with Cancer- but she is in the Class of those who have access to every possible treatment and care. I seriously doubt she personlly suffered from the numerous problems which block most from getting the necessary care they require. Many with her form of cancer die. So her endorsement of any Healthcare plan that allows the Profiteering Insurance Corps to manage leaves me with a suspeciously bad taste in my mouth. I had to beg the insurance Co's (HMO's & PPO's) to cover essential services to help our Patients return to an independent life style. These HMo's would con the elderely out of the medicare benefit package then milk the overly generous medicare system- while playing gate keepers to service providers. Insurance Co's are not inBusiness (nor intentionally designed) to Not make Profits- increase revenues /decrease payments.Either non profit orgnaizations or the Gov't must take on htis responsiblity to assure patients are recieving care and Corps are not just robbing individuals and raiding the national cookie jar.I could careless the which Term they use -it's mere rhetoric- universal or Socialized it is far past the time this basic human Right be provided- a moral and ethical issue not a Profit making venture.

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Nobody wants tires. Tire commercials don't appeal to consumers' sense of self-worth or sex-appeal. Tire manufacturers realize that consumers don't want tires. What they do want is to be able to have a better, more responsive or sporty driving experience, to arrive safely, etc. Remember the tire ads that showed a baby sitting in a tire? That was supposed to create a direct link in your mind between the quality of their tire (I've forgotten who they were... was it Michelin? GoodYear? It doesn't matter.) and the life of your baby. You need to be able to travel from A to B, and if you have a baby/children/whatever, you would probably like to arrive safely. Chances are, you get from point A to point B in a car or other similar internal combustion conveyance, and most of those use tires. So, while you probably do not directly want tires, it may be that you indirectly need them.

It is somewhat difficult to imagine a vehicle that we might use that will not use wheels, and therefore, tires. (Yes, we could walk... or ride bicycles... our communities could be zoned differently so people didn't have so much need to move around so much... or we could have better mass transportation systems... or we could have jet-packs... but let's stay focused here...)

Nobody really wants health insurance. What people want, even need, is health care. It just happens that, in our (admittedly imperfect) society, health insurance seems to be what we need in order to get health care.

The key difference? It's not that hard to imagine a health care system wherein insurance is not necessary. According to Dennis Kucinich, the total amount of money we spend on health care and health insurance costs, as a nation, could easily provide us all with universal health care. The problem is that we have created this system that is very heavily loaded with tasks and operators that do not create value for the health care providers or for the patients. It's time we realized that we've got a giant leech sucking the money out of the system and stop talking about how we "need to cover more people with health insurance". We need no such thing. We need to focus on providing health care. Kill the leech.

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I'm glad that Elizabeth has decided to make health insurance and the associated issues her cause. She is an effective and informed advocate.There needs to be pressure from outside government to make government do its job of providing affordable healthcare for the people of this country.

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In the case of our capitalistic philosophy of medicine, Profits Kill Health Care, which is the only reason US health care is #1, the most expensive in the world, and, #2, rated at something like number 36 in the international ratings for health.

This is sooo black and white clear to anyone without health insurance. We've got better than 25%+ of the population who have government paid health insurance, and none of these people really care. Then we have another 20% on government paid medicaid/medicare, they don't care. Then another 10-15% who work in the For-Profit medical field, whose health insurance is provided by the profits of other people's illness, and these people certainly don't care. Then there is perhaps about 3% who are wealthy enough to self-insure, they really don't care. Another middle-working class group fending its way through the for-profit insurance-maze and their for-profit hospitals and doctors, they DO care, and then the Left-Out 48 million who cling to their health by the grace of god, and sometimes not. (the above numbers are rough as are my assertions of their opinions)

Kucinich is one of the few members of Congress who really gets this and sticks his neck out for it. How can we spend the most per capita on medical and come out at the level of Iran and Cuba in delivery?

Profits Kill Health Care

The Single Payer system is the only real reform worth considering. The Edwards, Clinton and Obama plans all guarantee the biggest profit-suckers in the industry remain free to, well, suck profits, that's what they do for a living. We must stand up to these regressive profit-protecting measures offered by fake-progressives who are receiving support in the millions from the for-profit fake-medical industry on every front.

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An I speak as a cancer survivor to Elizabeth..!

We don't need corrupt companies like Humana getting rich writing bad paper..!

We don't need insurance we need Care and Coverage..!

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We do need healthcare rather than health insurance. There is a surgeon in my area who bleeds all the money she can out of insurance coverage for cancer operations, knowingly leaving none in the fund for after-operation needs. She is a slice and dice hack of the first water, but every day other immoral and insenstive and absolutely clueless doctors send her more patients. And, believe me as a "fortunate" cancer patient with adequate health insurance, these doctors are deaf to anything but the sound of the cash register. As Mark Morford says, Hell readies a room.

On the other side of the coin, there is a cancer doctor who treats everyone without first asking how they will pay for it. He has someone on staff whose sole responsibility is to make sure they get the financial help they need for all the services and care--including life maintenance--they need, regardless of health insurance. He works with a local pharmacist who will provide necessary meds without first knowing how they will be paid for. We are polarized into Saints and Sinners with regards to healthcare issues in this country.

Hilary and Barack both need a 3am wakeup call.

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