[Mrs. Nesbitt]

In most of the countries that offer socialized medicine many citizens have now gone to private insurance to supplement the coverage the government offers so they can get those needed procedures quicker and in some cases in other countries.

If we are to go to socialized health care are you prepared to pay the costs?
Your income tax rate would be about 50% even at the lower tax brackets, your property tax would double, you would pay 18% for every good or service you purchase and how about $5.00, $6.00 or $7.00 per gallon for gasoline with 70% of that being tax? Are you willing to pay these costs and let a government run another program? We have seen how they have done during natural disasters, with our road system, avaition system and many other functions.

And what part do we ourselves play in the cost of healthcare? Americans are fatter now than ever before, we put in more hours at work than any other industrialized nation, we stress about our employment, family life, government issues, etc. Look at the proliferation of quick serve meals and fast food restuarants.

We will wash our car weekly, change the oil regularly and perform maintenance on it as it is our very means (especially in SoCal) of going about our daily routine. Yet when it comes to our health, we wait until something dramatic happens, before we seek help. When was the last time you had a regular check up?