Hillary! is still trying to shove socialist healthcare down our throats

Hat tip to Cox and Forkum for another of their searing political cartoons (See blogroll left)

Saying she has "learned a lot" since the last time she tried to impose socialist health care on us in 1994, Hillary! earlier this week promised "We're going to have universal health care when I'm president, there's no doubt about that. We're going to get it done...." God help us all, I says.

Is our delivery system of medical care perfect? Of course not; show me a human system that has no flaws. Is our delivery system of medical care one of the best in the world? You bet. Just look at all the people from around the world who try by hook or crook to get here for medical procedures.

If you would like to see the future of health care in the United States if Hillary pushes through what she wants, there are plenty of places you can look. One of the best examples is Canada. They have socialist medicine, and it is literally killing their citizens. The backlog for starting cancer treatments can run to almost a year. What is that they always say about cancer survivors? It was caught and treated EARLY! Many Canadians sneak into the United States for immediate medical procedures that see months-long waiting lists in the Great White North.

For another example of socialist health care, look to Great Britain where they are seeing many of the same problems that Canadians are seeing. And of course there is Cuba which the left always raves about as the example for which we should all strive. Never mind that the "free" medical care in Cuba doesn't do you much good when there are chronic shortages of medical supplies and the grossly underpaid doctors make more money bartending in one of the European tourists-only hotels in Havana.

There is one more example of what socialist health care looks like: our own military. The Walter Reed flap referenced by the above Cox and Forkum cartoon shows what happens when there is no competition and hence, no incentive to serve the customer. I experienced various medical issues concomitant with being an active duty soldier, and I saw the inside of Moncrief Army Medical Center at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Washington; and Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany. While the medical care I received was adequate, I always got the feeling that they were getting to me in their own sweet time. My visit to Landstuhl was especially disconcerting. A routine physical at my local base caused concern for the doctor during the "turn your head and cough" portion of the exam because the doctor didn't like what he felt. Just over one month later, they finally saw me at Landstuhl to determine whether or not I had testicular cancer. Luckily, I was cancer-free. Several fellow-soldier friends of mine with some medical issues distrusted the Army medical system so much that they grinned and beared it until they got out of the military so they could have their respective back and knee surgeries performed in the private medical market.

As usual, the problems we currently have with the cost of health care are largely due to government interference. When LBJ gave us Medicare, it was only supposed to cost around $9 billion dollars a year. However, even taking inflation into account, the Medicare monster has ballooned into a grotesque financial black hole. It is a common rule of human behavior: that which is subsidized will go up in price. Look at the cost of health care; look at the cost of college tuition. Government heavily subsidizes both, and both continue to skyrocket. Couple that with government laws that prevent insurance companies from offering cheaper plans to younger, healthier clients. Instead, all ages, sexes, and health conditions are, in the words of of Stuart Browning of the On the Fence Films, thrown into the same risk pool. Browning has done extensive research and video documentation on the dangers of socialist medicine. You can see his films and articles at the linked website.

As usual, what works in this country is apparent by the number of people who vote with their feet. We have people from Haiti turning the roof of their house into a boat in an attempt to land on our shores, and we have people from Canada sneaking across the border into the U.S. to quickly obtain simple medical procedures that take months back their home country, and people from all over the world coming here for procedures that are not offered anywhere else. If Hillary! becomes our next president, her intention is to force us all into this rationed health care system where the government literally holds our lives in its inefficient, often corrupt little hands. And if you attempt to seek medical services from a doctor outside this wonderful system that Hillary! wants to set up, you and the wayward doctor can be arrested and imprisoned. That is what Hillary! proposed the last time she was put in charge of socializing our health care. Think about that in 2008 when it comes time to pull the voting lever.

Good Day to You, Sir