The problem with health care, whether you're talking the US, Canada, wherever, is that it's at the mercy of these three forces which, when taken separately, are flawed and tough to deal with, but when lumped together are a disaster: one, the somewhat modern notion people have that health care is a right owed to them by government; two, inexorably rising costs that are about several things but all of which eventually come down to the dynamic of constantly improving technology and the benefits people unreasonably expect to enjoy thereof; three, systems which hide from the consumer the true costs of those benefits, thereby creating an irrational, dysfunctional marketplace. There is no such thing as a 'great' healthcare system anywhere in the world - well, I guess there is if you're a rich American who can afford to buy the best doctors in the best hospitals, but that just points out why there's no such thing as a 'great' healthcare system, no country could possibly afford it - so what you're left with in reality are varying degrees of adequate and bad - and all representing an onerous public liability that is just going to get worse given continuing obeisance to the three forces.
My problem with Obama's plan, aside from the fact it doesn't address any of the negatives stated above, is twofold. One, it's so obviously about rigging together a system that serves the political interests of liberals - now, he may have overreached and end up doing the exact opposite, but that doesn't change the fact that he's pushing healthcare for the very same reason Bush [or Cheney or Rove] pushed war with Iraq - it's all about political power. If democrats really cared about improving the efficiency of the system and limiting the burden on the economy healthcare inevitably creates they would have proceeded in a deliberate and thoughtful manner that was as bipartisan as could possibly be - they didn't do that and the reason is 'cause it was always about politics. Two, America is dangerously over-leveraged - personal debt, the debt of private companies, the public debt of government, all are eating away like a cancer on the well-being of the state and this is absolutely no time to be spending billions upon billions of dollars to remake healthcare and then outright lying to people about how in the end it will actually save money - save money and improve quality of service - it's practically farcical - it's definitely ill-advised
Obama's focus should be primarily on the economy [his claim that healthcare reform is about the economy is pure nonsense - in a somewhat perfect world armed with a somewhat perfect plan that may be true, but neither is in play here] and to a lesser extent, but with no less a degree of seriousness, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. I have no doubt America's healthcare system needs a rethink since I'm pretty sure every healthcare system in the world could use a rethink - but now is not the time, nor is the manner they are going about it the way. That Obama's administration has obviously made the decision that they feel they have the political capital now and are gonna push this through no matter what is every bit as reckless as Bush romping into Iraq without any plan whatsoever as how to get out - which possibly seems like a tenuous or frivolous connection to make but I do so to point out that liberals, by so cavalierly turning a blind eye to the true nature of their agenda, make manifest, much in the manner of their nemesis Dubbya, what a ridiculous charade of vanity politics tends to be.
[see 'ol V.D. Davis seems to share all my opinions on this issue: that Obama is acting in a way that is very Bush-like, that healthcare reform is all about establishing a liberal hegemony in American politics that could last a generation and that regardless of those legitimate complaints the economy and the finances of the government are simply in no condition to handle the added costs of carrying out such an extreme agenda]
