Letters to the Editor
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and a mess 'o other fallacies
And this comic strip commits similar fallacies it attacks, particularly the straw man argument. But here are facts, folks:
People in Canada who can afford it come to the States for a lot of their major medical care.
My brother-in-law in Britain managed to live to the ripe age of 48 before anyone in the British Health System discovered he had a hole in his heart.
My mother-in-law suffered a partial tear of the inner lining of her aorta (the same thing that killed actor John Ritter). In the States such a person would be rushed into emergency surgery. My mother-in-law was put on a 3-month waiting list for surgery. The temporary fix was a stent inserted "just in case."
The other thing not talked about when discussing the "free" health care systems of Europe and Canada is the suffocating taxes those people pay. Indeed, their health care is far from free. If you like your postal service, you'll love government-run health care.
No system is perfect. Ours has a lot of problems. But automatically saying that a one-payer system, i.e., government-run health care, is the solution is simply blinkered foolishness.
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if we can afford the war in iraq
then we can afford national healthcare.
and the republicans have shown the way: no taxes, we just borrow the money.
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Tom T beats hell out of that piss-bag Opus
Let's have more of the REAL PENGUIN. I'm talkin' 'bout SPARKY man!
Spar-KEY, Spar-KEY, Spar-KEY!
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Anonymous 1??
I think that is great in a comic strip ridiculing the false arguments used by opponents of Universal healthcare you spout out the same cliches the article was ridiculing. Classic. You are a fine comedian.
But a couple of points - I've never heard anyone call this "free" healthcare. NEVER. Universal Healthcare is the term I've heard thrown around most.
On average, we already pay more in healthcare (those of you who have it) more than most countries with universal healthcare. So your argument is wrong. Perhaps if we didn't have a military budget 3 times larger than any other nation in the world, we can afford to send more people to doctors.
As to your other points -
"My brother-in-law in Britain managed to live to the ripe age of 48 before anyone in the British Health System discovered he had a hole in his heart."
You are right. This NEVER happens in the US. Now about all the medical malpractice lawsuits...
"People in Canada who can afford it come to the States for a lot of their major medical care."
Prove it. Show me a legitimate study that shows this as being true.
"My mother-in-law suffered a partial tear of the inner lining of her aorta (the same thing that killed actor John Ritter). In the States such a person would be rushed into emergency surgery. My mother-in-law was put on a 3-month waiting list for surgery. The temporary fix was a stent inserted "just in case."
I don't believe you. I don't believe that Canadian hospitals refuse people emergency care. By the way, your wife or husband's family seems to be in terrible health.
"No system is perfect. Ours has a lot of problems. But automatically saying that a one-payer system, i.e., government-run health care, is the solution is simply blinkered foolishness."
You are right no system is perfect. But one would hope that the most powerful nation in the history in the world could do better than #37th on the list of countries who provide the best health care. And I don't think anyone is "automatically saying" anything. First, people have to recognize that their is an actual problem with the health care in the US before we can decide to solve it. People like YOU and the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry would have us believe that there is no problem. That the system is not a train wreck. And that 40 million people in the US without health care is the best we can do. Well I think we can do better.
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I hope
that I never, never ever, take the Make Shit Up route to support an untenable argument.
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Nah, here are the real "FACTS" Anonymous
First of all, you don't even have the courage of your convictions to come up with a screen name instead of pissing in your shoes and backing into a discussion as Anonymous.
But let me put a stop to your bullshit right now:
"People in Canada who can afford it come to the States for a lot of their major medical care."
Key word there, Spanky, is "people who can afford it." Yeah asshole, "people who can afford it here in the States get all the freakin' health care they want. You kind of kicked your own goal there Beckham!
So let's here your one-of-a-kind anecdotes that are supposed to prove that the entire health care systems of Canada and Great Britain suck rocks:
"My brother-in-law in Britain managed to live to the ripe age of 48 before anyone in the British Health System discovered he had a hole in his heart."
Big deal! So what? What does that prove? How does that relate to anything? If your freakin' dumbass brother-in-law lived without any health insurance at all here in the United States, the only time the "hole in his heart" would be discovered is at his autopsy. Idiot!
Your stupid brother-in-law could have just as easily developed a "hole in his heart" rather suddenly, between checkups. That happens too. Did your stupid brother-in-law go for regular checkups? I freakin' doubt it. As it happens, I spent four years in Great Britain and had all my health care through the national service and guess what? They were EXCELLENT. A hell of a long ways better than Kaiser freakin' Permanente.
So let's talk about your mother-in-law and how this one single event is supposed to characterize the whole Canadian health care system.
"My mother-in-law suffered a partial tear of the inner lining of her aorta (the same thing that killed actor John Ritter). In the States such a person would be rushed into emergency surgery."
Yes and in Canada too. Please stop being a complete ASS! Did your mother-in-law survive? John Ritter didn't! They "rushed him" to the emergency room for surgery and he freakin' died.
And then, Slappy, you say they inserted a stent. Gee, that's interesting. She got a stent without being in surgery. What did they do, lay her down on the sidewalk and give her a stent right there in front of the bar?
So your two anecdotes prove absolutely nothing. Nice try.
"The other thing not talked about when discussing the "free" health care systems of Europe and Canada is the suffocating taxes those people pay."
The only people "suffocating from taxes" are the middle class in this country, the same ones who have no fucking health care! Rich people have health care. Extremely poor people have health care. But the taxpayer is already "suffocating" because we owe the goddamned Communist Chinese $200 billion in paper debt and a $180 billion trade deficit and the goddamned Iraq War. So you can blow that one out your ass too!
Nobody said it's FREE, stupid. The only people who say it's free are right wing mushheads like you who want to make it look like a mother trying to get help for a sick child without going bankrupt is looking for a free ride. You are a contemptible asshole of the first water!
"If you like your postal service, you'll love government-run health care."
OK, that one really takes the cake for utter fucking stupidity and it's not even original. That's one of the oldest canards out there. But if you insist, I'll knock the crap out of you on this point too.
As a matter of fact, I like our U.S. Postal Service. I do trading on eBay and I get better service and fewer hassles with the U.S.P.S. than with UPS and FEDEX. But that aside, you freakin'chimpanzee, NO ONE, get it right, NO ONE has ever said that the Federal Government is going to build and run hospitals and clinics in this country. NOBODY! Got that? NOBODY!
"No system is perfect. Ours has a lot of problems. But automatically saying that a one-payer system, i.e., government-run health care, is the solution is simply blinkered foolishness."
You have the NERVE to talk about "straw men"???
Nobody but YOU has said anything about "a one-payer system (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), i.e., government run health care."
You see, even the words you chose are just full of shit and lies and twisted bumper sticker slogans like "government run health care."
Nice try Slappy. But you lost on every count. Now go see Moore's movie, shut your hole, and know your role.
I have spoken.