Posted on 08/02/2019 7:05:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
These "debates" are to serious policy discussions as a kazoo is to an orchestra. You can say a kazoo is an instrument, and you can say that these truncated thoughts are proposals, but you'll invite smirks.
This is not a slam on Democrats. The Republican "debates" in 2016 were no better. When a stage is sardined with candidates, there is no alternative to keeping answers short. If the voters had longer attention spans, we could arrange four or five nights of less manic encounters, which would give candidates the chance to explain themselves. But since we don't, we have unedifying and demeaning soundbite pingpong matches.
It isn't clear that they merit the intense media interest they generate. Must Joe Biden prove he's not too old? Must Cory Booker "have a moment" after a lackluster first debate? Maybe. Then again, Donald Trump performed abysmally in the 2016 debates. He didn't know the issues and made excruciating errors. His great skill, if you can call it that, was in lobbing juvenile taunts at his rivals. Yet he was acclaimed the winner by the viewers.
Several candidates this week stressed that the Democratic Party is veering too far to the left, which was refreshing, if probably futile. The undertow pulling the party left is very strong. As recently as 2009, the public option in health care was considered too extreme, which is why President Barack Obama omitted it. Now, it's the moderate position compared with "Medicare for All," which is endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Bill de Blasio, Julian Castro and, with some reservations, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.
As usual, Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were in full outrage mode about the corporate villains who are sucking us dry. It isn't a sign of our political maturity that the most successful politicians now are demagogues who find some target to blame -- foreign competition, immigrants, greedy corporations, millionaires and billionaires. Warren claims that "giant corporations" and billionaires will foot the bill for her MFA, which rivals Trump's claim that Mexico would pay for his wall. Sanders pointed to the nation across the river from Detroit to shame Americans about health care not being treated as a "yooman right" in this country.
This seems like a good time to review what Canada's single-payer health care system does and doesn't do.
It's true that all Canadian citizens and legal residents (though not immigrants there illegal) get "free" health care, but only in the sense that you don't get a bill after seeing a doctor or visiting a hospital. Medical care is subsidized by taxes, but the price comes in another form as well -- rationing. A 2018 report from the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank, found that wait times between seeing a general practitioner and a specialist average 19.8 weeks. That's the average. There are variations among specialties. Those hoping to see an orthopedist wait an average of 39 weeks in Nova Scotia, while those seeking an oncologist wait about 3.8 weeks.
Canada has the same modern medical technology that the U.S. offers, but Canadians must wait more than a month for a CT scan, more than 10 weeks for an MRI, and almost a month for an ultrasound.
Imagine the anxiety of learning that you need an MRI to find out whether the mass in your breast is anything to worry about and then being told that the next available appointment is in 10 weeks. In addition to the psychic price, Canadians who had to wait for treatment expended an average of $1,822 out of pocket last year, due to lost wages and other costs. The Fraser Institute also calculated the value of the lost productivity of those waiting for treatment -- nearly $5,600 per patient, totaling $5.8 billion nationally. Wait times to see physicians in the U.S. have been creeping up in recent years -- perhaps in response to increased demand following Obamacare -- but remain much shorter than Canada's or other OECD countries with nationalized health services.
When there's an artificial shortage of a good or service, a black market usually follows. I have heard from several Canadians that paying doctors bribes to jump the line is not uncommon. But Canada has another pressure reliever: Ninety percent of Canadians live within 90 miles of the U.S. border, and medical centers in Buffalo, Chicago, Rochester and elsewhere receive tens of thousands of Canadian patients every year.
Advocates respond that Canadians are happy with their system, and that's fine. It's their choice. But Americans tend not to be so docile about delays. And in any case, the Democrats' pretense that we can provide "Medicare for All" and receive the same level of care we've become accustomed to is applesauce. You want the Canadian system? Fine. Just know what you're giving up.
WoW! See...when you take off your TDS spectacles you can actually practice journalism! It’s a beautiful day!
Canadians in Winsor go across the bridge to get medical care and shop and fill up their gas tank before they go home.
The Value Added Tax in Canada pays for the health care system. You pay for your “free” health care every time you buy something. That’s why gasoline in Canada is $4.75 per gallon.
The Value Added Tax in Canada pays for the health care system. You pay for your “free” health care every time you buy something. That’s why gasoline in Canada is $4.75 per gallon.
Huh? He won them and the Presidency largely because of the debates.
Charen is a moron.
The may give us Canada style healthcare or worse. But will their healthcare be like?
One reason why wages have stagnated over the years here in the U.S. is that non-wage benefits like health insurance have gotten ridiculously more expensive for employers over time. And under ObamaCare, this "benefit" is now a MANDATORY one for most employers.
It’s called an opinion. Got it?
Gas in Alaska was $3.25 in may
How the heck did Obamacare ever get call the Affordable Care Act?
There is the problem!!!!!
If congress had to adhere to the rules they passed this shit would stop tomorrow.
Drug testing- good for us good for you
Obamacare- hope you enjoy it
DUI arrest- welcome to local court
When they are held to the same standard as the American public it will stop.
Rant off.....maybe
>>>basic health insurance coverage is provided through the “public option.”
True, but there no public option to opt-out. This is government “(forced) Managed Healthcare” hence what is the true cost to Canadians per person and in the name of efficiency what medical services are cut/reduced or even denied per year while some additional taxes are raised because Canadians lean on so-called free services?
P.S. Forgot to mention the Canadian health care being a Managed Healthcare is also a form of wage & price controls. Many of the specialists have seeked freedom/rewards in the U.S market place & left the handcuffs behind.
Opinions can be wrong. Claiming Trump lost the debates is one of the dumbest since he won. Got it?
I posted on Townhall my comments on this article how our family doesn’t have a doctor, because no one wants to be a general practitioner, so we go to a clinic and wait 2 hours.
I still had some liberals who want our system.
R word is never used here, but in my province 48% of the budget is committed to healthcare. However, increases have not kept up with population growth, let along adjusted for the fact the ageing population is booming. The majority of tax revenue is from personal income tax, so you can do the math.
Little more complicated than that. But yes there is provincial and federal tax on gasoline, and then Goods and Services Tax (federal), and then carbon taxes. In theory the tax was suppose to go to improve roads, which makes sense when you have to service a massive country with only 35 million people.
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