On Dec 31, 2007 11:14 AM, Don Ferguson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Government run healthcare for everyone? Ever dealt with the IRS?
Yep. And the DMV. And the TSA. And the Post Office. There are examples of bad government operations/policies everywhere. But the government has no monopoly on bad service...just look at the cellular carriers...or the large cable operators...or the airlines. All non-government operations, yet they seem to have many of the same problems. But, just as there are examples of bad service in both public and private sectors, there are examples of good service in both as well. Government is rarely the sole problem, but it is rarely the sole solution. My position is that we need to rethink how we do things, and companies rarely do anything for the public good that doesn't help their bottom lines. Healthcare is as much of a "public good" as are police, fire, military, post office, and education, and we have combined public+private solutions to all those industries (e.g., police are paid for by taxes, but you can always hire your own private security firm for extra service). Health care is the only one where huge numbers of Americans have no access to a public (government-offered) healthcare solution unless they become poor or appropriately aged. A government-run healthcare network wouldn't get rid of private insurers, it would merely add another option to the competitive landscape (think USPS and UPS/FedEx)...and competition is good, right?
