No prob! My parents did mine through the internet and it was pretty affordable. Hope it works out for you.

Ah but that's when revolutions come and reset the balance - and the wealthy bourgeois intellectuals are put to death

And a select portion of the poor take on the trappings of the bourgeois and oppress those they can. And we start over.

But I won't be there. Unfortunately I'm in the bourgeoisie. Any chance of getting a guillotine out of a sense of style?

What would I do? While I certainly don't admire my dad in the least, I would do exactly what he did during my mom's lupus and his unemployment...I would take on the debt. Would I want to? No. Not for a moment. But you do what you have to. He declared bankruptcy a few years after her death. it happens. It sucks, but it happens.

So many think thast those who are opposed to this plan must not know what it's like. Here's news for you - I do.

I also will NOT be forced to offer a better plan simply because I don't like what's being offered. Not required. That being said, there are PLENTY of ideas out there I like better. While so many here do not like the site, the heritage Foundation site has had (I haven't been there in the last week or so, so I cannot guarantee that the things I read are still there) plenty of ideas I like, including medical savings accounts, opening insurance availability across state lines, etc.

Alas, revolutions are often won by violent power-hungry people who are likely to be as bad as or worse than the tyrants they displace. See the wonderful Sergio Leone film Duck, You Sucker! for a terrific musing on this.

All of which retain the key ingredient that who gets/deserves medical benefits comes down to a business decision, something I will always consider wrong.

Not that the plan as currently going through Congress changes that, but instant-socialization isn't going to happen, but if it's going to happen this will have to do as the awkward first step.

And therin lies the problem, the two sides disagree on the endpoint. I do not believe that any amount of tweaking to bolster free-market forces is going to solve the problem, simply because I believe the problem is an innevitable, even necessary, part of any free-market solution. In the free-market there are, by design, economic losers. That's just fine when it means someone goes without a big TV or a fancy car. It is not fine when it means someone goes without adequate health care.

I do not believe the free market necessarily means that there are winners and losers. What I choose to spend my money on does not make me a loser, and i have control (for the most part, anyway) of where I spend my money.

That aside, and completely understanding what you have said otherwise, GD, what I think what frustrates me in this whole national debate is the way the insurance industry is viewed. They came into existance to make a profit, so I don't know why they are slammed for trying to do so. Now, mind you, if they violate the terms of their agreements, they should face litigation or criminal investigation, but I do not fault them for trying to make a profit.

This is why I am against the public option. It is not fair competition for the government, which runs a deficit without blinking an eye and does not need to make a profit, to be in direct competition with the insurance companies.

Should doctors work without making much money? My bill for the second surgery for my achalasia I had was over 40K, and that only included two nights in the hospital. I really do not recall the percentage of that which went to the surgeon, but she was damn skilled and I think worth a whole lot. Is it immoral for her to profit on my illness? She sure does (or at least did) drive a nice car. What is the difference between her making a high salary and the insurance companies making a profit?

Would you support the elimination of Medicare and and the health services of the VA?

Both of those systems are much farther down the road to government healthcare than any of the current proposals.

The VA is limited in their scope by definition to veterens. This is part of the agreement made between those who serve(d) and the government, and in that way I don't really view that in the same light. Perhaps I should, but I don't.

Medicare.....there are numerous problems with the system, as I believe there are with Social Security, but it is now an "entitlement" that people have paid into and should therefore get the benefits promised. I beleive the problems evident with medicare are a small foreshadowing of what would happen should a government option become available.

In short, because your surgeon doesn't stand to make more money by denying some people access to her services.