August 07, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY


THE OLD "SOCIALISM" CANARD

When right-wingers trash a progressive idea or program, the word "socialism" pops out of their mouths almost automatically. Calling something "socialist' automatically means something isn't even worthy of consideration. But consider how many things we take for granted could be called "socialist" under the right-wing definition. You could call Social Security, public roads, airports, the military, and numerous other things "socialist" because they're funded by government money. The fact is that pure capitalism doesn't work. It would be a nightmare society for most of us. This is a case for national health care. This article by Pierre Tristam is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

Best care in the world? Think again. Opponents of a single-payer system quickly say that in other countries you have to wait umpteen months to get this or that elective procedure done, as if waiting times don't exist here. Yet the 1.1 billion visits for care in 2004 added up to a combined 36 million days of waiting time for Americans, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and that's just in the waiting halls of doctors' offices and emergency rooms -- not the week- and month-long waits to see specialists. That's if you're lucky enough to have coverage. Once you do get to see a care-giver, good luck. Last March, The New England Journal of Medicine exploded the myth of quality care with a study that showed that half the time, patients don't receive the care they need. They're mis-diagnosed, mistreated (literally) and mis-referred. Then they're billed enough to induce fresh coronaries.