Wow Mr. Reich, you certainly haven't lost your ability to rankle the Repubnicans and Neocons have you? Keep up the good work!

To you naysayers and other blatant right leaners ... specifically, what is it you have a problem with? The FACT remains millions of your fellow Americans are without healthcare of any kind, many of whom are children. And that number increases every year. To use a familiar tactic of yours, why do you hate children? But these statements of the uninsured are much quoted and certainly familiar, so again, what precisely is your argument against VERY modest reforms and a genuine effort to provide reasonable care for all Americans? Do you hate your fellow Americans? Are you so selfish that you are incapable of even a modicum of compassion and altruistic action?

Do you seek to defend the current system? Fact: The American healthcare system is the most expensive healthcare on the planet. No nation spends more per person on healthcare than the US. Fact: We rank as low as 50th by any real measure of a citizenry's health. Birth defects, heart attacks, life expectancy and general health ... in EVERY case we are no where near the top. Are you then defending what is clearly and inefficient system that equates expensiveness with at best, mediocrity? Would you tolerate that in your business?

Are you defending making a profit from sickness and disease? Healthcare is and should be a basic human right. Healthcare should not be a for-profit concern. This should NOT be equated with an oath of poverty. No one is suggesting healthcare professionals shouldn't be fairly and decently compensated, we are simply saying the profit motive MUST not be a factor in deciding someone's care.

Finally, it is an agreed upon fact that the current growth rate in costs of US system of healthcare is unsustainable and left unchecked, will bankrupt our country. Is that what you want? Perhaps the recent lessons of the housing bubble have been lost on you but it is a study in what happens when a system goes unchecked; and we all know how well that worked out. I should think you Conservatives would tire of consistently being on the wrong side of history. A nation's success can be measured on how well it takes care of it's citizens. How about getting on the moral and good side of this debate for once?

All the shouting and posturing is admittedly good sport and a feature of the democratic process but what worries me more and more is the near complete lack of informed debate on these very crucial issues. When did the folks of this country become so attention-span challenged and sound-bite addicted?

We could debate the causes for hours and hours but it's the results that are undeniable ... we no longer have calm, studious and informed debates about the issues any more. It's what we sorely need. The saying goes that calmer heads prevail and there's no reason we can't ensure this happens.

I, for one, am all for single-payer health insurance but I am well aware of it's risks and pitfalls. Moreover, I am well aware that others don't share my views and have some very good points and reasons for their views ... as do I. I would dearly love to hear the reasoned, informed positions for and against healthcare reform as it is a VERY complex debate. We do ourselves a huge disservice as concerned citizens shouting slogans and scare tactics from both sides of the debate and talking past each other. It only causes the passionate to further dig-in and give no credence to anything other than their own, largely ill-informed opinion.

Our Founding Fathers disagreed passionately about a great many things BUT they did have informed debate and it's near certain they arrived at some wise conclusions. I'd wager they'd be appalled at what passes for public discourse these days.

Just my two cents.