OK, so I was being facetious, as usual... Robin (Panza), who's not on
chat, but who gets snippets of it from me, responded more seriously.
For the non-US members who, like Jean (Nathan) aren't "clued in",
here's a better and more comprehensive explantation of the points that
Jean had raised:
From: "Panza, Robin"
Date: January 22, 2004 9:33:00 EST
For a little more information:
I had a go at this just for fun, as I don't understand the difference
between a Democrat and a Republican,
Republicans tend to be more conservative, more interested in the
rights of
the wealthy and big business, more willing to go to war. Democrats
tend to
be more liberal, more interested in the rights of the downtrodden, more
protective of the environment, even if all that means more taxes.
what the Patriot Act is,
The government can now seize someone and put them in jail without
trial,
without access to a lawyer, etc. They can now tap phones, search
homes, and
other means of snooping that used to be carefully constrained by the
legal
system. All they have to do is say it's for national security. If
you've
read "A Handmaid's Tale", we're well on our way to that society.
and the US medical system
Medicare covers a fair bit for those who are over 62, but not
prescriptions.
Medicaid covers some other things, but I've never figured out who
qualifies
for it (very few people). Other than that, people have to pay for
their own
medical care--doctors, hospitals, drugs, medical assistance devices
like
wheelchairs, etc. Some people have jobs that include medical
insurance for
those things, but by no means everyone. Those that do have medical
benefits
are often seriously limited as to which doctors/hospitals they can use,
which procedures are covered, what drugs are covered, etc. Sometimes
they
must use a medical "group" that has high turnover, so you never see
the same
doctor twice. What's covered is determined by businessmen, and
doctors who
don't rack up enough "billable time" or who recommend costly
procedures are
dropped from the insurer's list. So there's a premium on shoving
patients
through the system as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
Robin P.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
-----
Tamara P Duvall
Lexington, Virginia, USA
Formerly of Warsaw, Poland
http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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