Universal health care, what a joke. In a province in Canada there is one MRI machine for the entire province. The waiting list to use it is over a year long. Is that what you want in America?

The number one healthcare system in the WORLD is a socialized healthcare system, and that is France.  We are number 37, and Canada beats us coming in at 30.

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

^I'd take quality over availability any day of the week. The media doesn't cover the way people die in those top countries while waiting in line for care, do they? BTW, uni/socialized health care is not what my thread is about.

@halogamer - Actually, yet it does. And very few "die while waiting".

My nan was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago, within four days it was out. Of course, she would still have it if she was in the US - as most health insurance plans don't cover "experimental" procedures. That, or she would had to have paid for the operation herself, which at the thousands of pounds it would have cost, my grandparents probably would have had to have sold their house and gone into rent.

Seriously, stop buying into all the propaganda.

Three cheers for Rocket Pig.

Christ Holo if you really think that way I hope you never get sick. I have to say its easy to underestimate how horrific the US health care system is before you are in it. Did you know the following facts?


Hospitals charge 4 times as much to people without insurance or people who do have insurance but are not covered for a specific procedure. For example I ended up with a kidney stone and was billed 7000 dollars for two hours in the hospital, I had insurance at the time luckily, insurance paid under 2k for what they billed me 7 for. They charge 4x as much for those who have the least.

Insurance has final say on what is allowed, not doctors, and they have people who's sole job it is to avoid covering procedures and operations, many of which are medically necessary in the opinions of doctors. These people making decisions on behalf of the insurance industry average below a bachelors degree while doctors are...you know...MD educated doctors.

Most HMOs, which is what a lot of people have, are similar to socialized medicine but with more red tape and worse services. You are limited in who you can see, you are limited in services you have access to, you are given long waits on services and they do whatever they can to not cover whatever services you do need.

It's just horrid doing anything through insurance in the US, the idea that it is in any way superior is false. Wait till you get sick and have to deal with billing or anything else and maybe you'll figure that one out. Our health care system is a horror show designed to enrich the already rich who donate to those in power. It is beyond broken.

And yes, when you act like McCain has anything to do with Teddy Roosevelt you are kidding yourself.  Conservation, enviornmental protection, the begining of the FDA and government regulation of companies....Roosevelt was without a doubt a democrat in the modern political landscape.  The Republicans have turned into a combination of greedy special interests and religous hacks.  They are this horrific hybrid of two horrid ideas.  Modern Republicans have turned into don't tax and spend social conservatives, I can't immagine anything worse.

I always considered myself Libertarian, there are no trully Libertarian mainstream parties in Poland (there is Union of Reality Politics but they are bunch of freaks), but i tend to vote for the Pro Market, right wing party (Civic Platform)
Same scenario in the Uk i do support the Tories (hate cameron thou)

Problem is in todays world there is not much place for Libertarianism, because general public in the western well is mostly supportive for Centre-Right approach with Goverment spendings.


Health list, haha Good Seing Poland at number 50 , i did not know people rate our Health system so high. But i think 18 for Uk is to high.

On what grounds?

that report is more than 10 years old. and doesnt show what datapoints they are grading their assesment on.

also, we need to have a VGchartz Political Convention and nominate Rocketpig as our offical candidate. LOL

I'm lean closer to Libertarian than Republican. I liked the Republican party more when Newt Gingrich was leading the charge to reduce government spending.

I believe government should handle less than it does. I don't believe the government has the right to censor broadcast television or radio (the signals crossing state lines argument is bullshit). Government should in not be involved with what people do in their own homes (I'm not talking about violent crimes like abuse here). Drug legislation should shift from banning drugs to strictly enforcing laws with regards to negligence while under the influence and I believe health insurance should have the right to charge recreational drug users higher rates and deny coverage to those that don't purchase the extra coverage. Basically, do what drugs you want, but you better have cash if you need treatment for them because no one else should have to pay it for you.

I believe marriage should be deinstitutionalized. Gender concerns should not play into it. There should be no tax benefits for being married. I think that there should be no laws regarding property in marriage. People who want to get married choose which contract they wish to sign. If that contract involves the sharing of assets, then so be it. I believe all tax credits that go with people having kids should be removed. Other countries may have problems with their birth rates, but we don't here. The government doesn't need to reward people for having kids. It unfairly shifts the tax burden to those that don't. The only thing that people should pay for, with property taxes, that affects kids is education and that is only because better educated people contribute more to the economy.

I believe that personal income taxes should be abolished. Taxes should shift to the sale of goods and services. The more you buy, the more taxes you pay. Simple enough I think. No one can argue that someone is being taxed more than anyone else. No one would have to go to jail for tax evasion anymore. The IRS can shift to enforcing the collection of sales tax.

I believe we should aggressively fix our trade imbalance with other nations. Many countries like China are walking away with too much of our money. We are essentially selling them our country.

I give this thread a 9.5.