Posted on 08/07/2009 1:15:41 PM PDT by jazusamo
Sometimes it takes an outsider's perspective to help you appreciate your own blessings. So it was Tuesday evening when Daniel Hannan, a British, 37-year-old member of the European Parliament, spoke at the Army and Navy Club in Washington. Mr. Hannan made a convincing case that the American health care system is far superior to the British one, and thus should not move down Britain's path toward government control.
"Ponder our example, and tremble," Mr. Hannan warned. "You see a grizzly picture of your own country's possible future. . .. Do not make the same mistakes we have." He continued: "I see this massive encroachment of the state... this huge power grab by the state machine... squeezing the private sector, to engorge the state." In Great Britain, he explained, "It is not uncommon to wait six, 10, even 12 months for a knee operation." He said, "It is exactly a Marxist system. You are treated as a supplicant and expected to be grateful for what you get. But our survival rates [in the United Kingdom] are demonstrably worse."
It's his advice that we should not buy into the notion of establishing a state-run system as just one option competing for business. "It expands and expands until it squeezes out every other system," he said. "Don't imagine that this is an experiment that can be reversed if it doesn't work out." The system becomes too big to kill, even though it works terribly. The 1.4 million employees of the British National Health Service make the NHS the world's third-largest single employer, behind only the Chinese army and the Indian Railways. Yet the majority of those 1.4 million, Mr. Hannan said, are "managers," not medical personnel.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This problem has been weighing on my mind. BO wants to create another huge, expensive bureaucracy to run this monster. Every dollar spent on the "managers" is a dollar that isn't spend on actual health care. This is just one of the reason why what they are trying to do will be infinitely worse than the current system.
Yet OBOZO and his communist followers will continue to push for govt control over even more of our lives. Will it ever stop?
“a grizzly picture”
He sees a large bear in our future?
It will not stop as long as Zer0 and his ilk are in power, govt control is the intent. It’s astounding how stupid many of our people are to support him.
He means "Grisly."
I thought limeys were the experts at the English language.
“Grizzly”? Can’t the reporter and/or editor spell? It’s “grisly”.
It will stop when we demand our country back. Obama's efforts are not change but are instead a hostile takeover of our country. People are starting to figure that out, better late than never.
We are literally fighting for America and must use ALL available resources and stop with the nice-nice attitude. These are power hungry, blood thirty communist thugs we are fighting!
Every new government employee becomes a member of the union. Dues are automatically withheld from their paychecks. Nearly all of the political contributions by those unions goes to Democrats. That is the number two reason they like large government. Number one is power and control.
So it was Tuesday evening when Daniel Hannan, a British, 37-year-old member of the European Parliament, spoke at the Army and Navy Club in Washington...."Ponder our example, and tremble," Mr. Hannan warned. "You see a grizzly picture ..."
Like they say, read the article first.
He was speaking at the Army Navy Club.
The error was made by the reporter who took down his speech, and missed by the editor of the story.
This is the best, most credible testimonial I can find on the NHS, and a typical experience of an older American tourist with a very serious condition.
Watching this still haunts me.
I know Beth and she is a smart, articulate person and as normal a person as anybody. The NHS, basically, killed her mother.
He was quoting the Brit. I assume it came from a transcript.
Thank you!
That’s a sad testament to all in this country that what Obama and his Dems are trying to force down our throats is exactly the wrong way to go with health care.
You couldn’t be any more right about Beth being a smart, articulate and normal person, anyone watching that video will recognize that.
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