This just cracks me up. I have not been on here in a while, just came back today to see what the action was over at the summit. Then, I noticed, while reading through all of our liberal minded comments about how health insurers are the problem with the healthcare system (a notion I agree with wholeheartedly) and so on, that the ad posting to this site is for a health insurance company...
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha he hehehhehehooohooooohoooo gasp whew!
This just illustrates how pervasive profit at any cost is in our society, when the Daily Kos provides a platform to a corporate interest that is selling a product we all thinks borders on the evil side of the spectrum.
That was terribly, terribly amusing to me. I suppose they paid their scheckles, they should get what they want, advertising space.
Now I imagine I should actually add my comments about health-care in general.
The problem with this 'debate' is there is no actual real debate going on here.
The general liberal option is a single payor system, not even discussed, single payor advocates not even allowed to sit at the table.
The general conservative position should be that a true market economy approach, one that relies on the provider of a product or service producing the best quality product they can at a good price can not be achieved by the existence of any health insurance company. The market incentive for an insurer is to find the best way not to pay a claim, it is not to actually provide anybody any actual healthcare.
See a real conservative economic argument would be that since insureres profit only by not providing a service, denial of your claim, then the insurer should be removed from the equation and Drs, nurses, hospital's and the like should compete for your business. I do not agree with this notion, but at least I respect the idealogical claim here.
Those 2 viewpoints would actually form the basis for the real debate about the future of healthcare in this country.
All that is going on here, with the summit, is political gamesmenship by both sides. Obama knows that an actual healthcare debate would include discussion of a single payor system. Ron Paul probably knows the positions of the Republicans do not actually represent a conservative argument. It is all a game, one that Obama had to engage in and needs to win if we ever want to see progress on this issue, but still just a game none the less.