I've struggled with this issue in regards to Obama (I did with Bush as well).  There is no doubt that he is a narcissist and he has rocketed past the normal checkpoints that slow people down on their path to the Presidency.  He seems to view himself as someone always capable of doing more (well intentioned imo) and the only place higher that he can go from here is to become a dictator.  But the leap to "actively strives to be a dictator" is a hard one for me to sign on to.

I think subconsciously he desires it...but then so do I.  Who would run for the office if they didn't feel like they could do a better job?

Personality wise he fits the bill, but I think it is a leap to actually say he is actively seeking it.  I'm not sure if you were going that far or not, but I'm not really on board that idea either way.  For now he seems like an overly ambitious, exceedingly naive, and disturbingly inexperienced leader that is trying to enact his entire agenda in the first two years (perhaps so he can play golf the last two years =P ).

Beyond that I think it is reasonable to be cautious and to watch what he does closely (like you would any president), but I don't think raising alarms is really called for at all so far.

Infant mortality I agree with. Life expectancy I don't. Having a few more murders per 100,000 people isn't going to have any statistically significant effect on life expectancy. The fact that your healthcare system has failed to provide increased life expectancy isn't good.

Also your system doesn't provide adequete healthcare to those who are not insured, the reason for your excellent rates of cancer is because for those covered by insurance you have by far the most thorough screening of any country in the world - almost to the point of excess.

Also new source (WHO) for cardiovascular disease. http://www.heartstats.org/datapage.asp?id=744

Will post more later.

Ah but here is the problem with that.

It's not adjusted.  The OCED stats were adjusted for age and other such stats. 

The OCED stats measured exactly how likely you were to survive when you went in... considering your condition.  Which of course is effected by a lto more then healthcare.

Also those stats are from 2002 making them more out of date then the OCED.  Also for that matter the USA still does really well there outperforming the UK.

As for Life expectancy there is a LOT more too it then healthcare.  Your a fool if you think otherwise.

Example. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/outliers.htm

Changing America's culture would do far more for it's healthcare then changing it's medical system.  There is a reason why Italy ranks near the top for Life expectancy yet a very large amount of italians are unsatisfied with there care, there hosptials are overlfowing... and it's overall medicore care.

There CHD is very low.  Not because of healthcare... but because they live healthy lifestyles where extended family live together.

I don't think Obama wants to be a Castro-esque charachter at all, I think he is much more like a timid Clement Attlee. Infinately more comparisons can be drawn to Clement Attlees' government of 1940's Britain, than it can to Fidel Castros' Cuba.

let me ask you this.

If you had two kings. One was a loving king that made sure all his people were fed and clothed, and one was a evil king that killed and raped people as he sees fit. Would you see those two places as the same government?

I sure would.

Obama is not going to turn us into Cuba. He would love to have the power to do so however. He has tried to move more power to his office then anyone before him. He has talked about a federal police force, has moved the census burrow under him. He tells more people what they are allowed to earn. He tried to tell banks what that can take as payments on loans, and when they would not listen to him, he tried to change the law so they had to. He is creating a new "legal regime" to house people as long as he wants. All the overstepping of Bush, he has not overturned. He now wants the power he condemned when he ran for office.

He wants to do what he wants to do, and if any law gets in his way, it's seen as nothing more then a roadblock that needs to be removed. Not as a good thing put into place to protect the people of this country from a president.

The only thing that would keep him from becoming a dictator, is he doesn't have enough time to change enough laws. Sadly, all his work will put the starting position of the next guy that much closer (just like Bush did before Obama), and i am sure the next guy will want to be a dictator as well.

All the weapons we have to stop that, we keep giving away in the form of more executive power.

I can answer your question in one word:

FRAUD

by for-profit institutions.

Types of Medical Fraud

"Phantom Billing" - Billing for tests not performed.

Performing inappropriate or unnecessary procedures.

Charging for equipment/supplies never ordered.

Billing Medicare/Medicaid for new equipment but providing the patient used equipment.

Billing Medicare/Medicaid for expensive equipment but providing the patient cheap equipment.

A drug or equipment supplier completing a Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) instead of the physician.

"Reflex testing" - Automatically running a test whenever the results of some other test fall within a certain range, even though the reflex test was not requested by a physician.

"Defective Testing" - When a test or part of a test was not performed because of technical trouble (ie: insufficient or destroyed sample, machine malfunction) but is billed for anyway.

"Code Jamming" - Laboratories inserting or "jamming" fake diagnosis codes to get Medicare/Medicaid coverage.

Offering free services or supplies in exchange for your Medicare or Medicaid number.

"Unbundling" - Using two or more Current Procedural Terminology ("CPT") billing codes instead of one inclusive code for a defined panel where rules and regulations require "bundling" of such claims. Submitting multiple bills, in order to obtain a higher reimbursement for tests and services that were performed within a specified time period and which should have been submitted as a single bill.

"Double Billing" — charging more than once for the same service, for example by billing using an individual code and again as part of an automated or bundled set of tests.

"Up Coding" - Inflating bills by using diagnosis billing codes that indicate the patient experienced medical complications and/or needed more expensive treatments. (eg., billing for complex services when only simple services were performed, billing for brand-named drugs when generic drugs were provided, listing treatment as having been for a more complicated diagnosis than was actually the case.)

"Phantom Employees" - Expensing employees or hours worked that do not exist.

"Improper Cost Reports" — Submitting false cost reports seeking higher Medicare reimbursements than permitted by actual facts.

Providing substandard nursing home care and seeking Medicare reimbursement.

Do you honestly believe that fraud and corruption are unique of private industry, or that the government is somehow less corrupt? Do you really believe that bridges to nowhere, hundreds of million dollar airports that service dozens of people a month, and 10,000% cost overruns on projects by the government are not caused by corruption?

I would trust the government over private concerns anyday. With the government I have ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES who are answerable to the voters. Eventually it balances out. (The 2010 primaries will be VERY interesting to say the least. Moderate/Progressive STEAMROLLER)

Who do I have to help me deal with the private concerns?  LAWYERS!  (LOOK OUT!!!! TORT REFORM!!! OOOOH NOOOO!!!)

Bureaucracy has no accountability. It is a cancer that needs to grow until it bankrupts countries.

Government must enforce morality and protect its borders. That is it.

Gentlemen, I submit you you, Medicaid and Medicare. I also submit to you the UK and Canadian Healthcare systems. People waiting for months even years to have a simple procedure done, elderly and chronically ill people being placed at the bottom of list for expensive medical treatments. Overworked and underpaid doctors not doing a good job, A lack of doctors because the pay does not justify the time and money put into education. Do you really think, given the history of Medicaid and Medicare, that the US government can do a better job than the private sector? Let's not forget, the private sector is riddled with horrible strangling legislation and regulation from the very entity that wants to "save" it?