I don’t like Obama’s plan, but the perpetual resistance of Republicans to any program that benefits the American people has led directly to the unworkable situation we have today. Billions of dollars for war, not one cent for healthcare of education. Unfortunately, that has been the Republican motto for too long. That and support the corporations at all costs.

Personally, I would rather see a universal healthcare plan funded by the taxes Americans already pay, than to see people forced to buy insurance (which only fattens the already obscenely wealthy and corrupt insurance companies) and then fined for not having insurance when the reason they don’t have insurance is they can’t afford it. That just seems bizarre to me.

Fining Americans for not having insurance is not about getting better healthcare for people, it’s about getting more policy-holders for insurance companies. Pathetic. Obama is a Republican.

The self accountability factor you present so well for both education and health is an important part of bringing both of these areas into a clear focus, which would then allow some of the issues to be looked at and hopefully solved.

I never understood the summer vacation, but then again I went to a parochial school, which at the time gave a break during the summer equal to Easter and Christmas.

For example, I have often thought that our public school academic scores would improve dramatically if our schools cut the tie to extracurricular athletics and gave that over to recreation districts or the community at large.

How about the city/community offer the sports? This may require thinking out of the box for those scouting-they would need to move beyond schools. It is a win-win. The community charges for the season to play, brings the community together for those interested in the sports, and puts the competition in the sports that can do this into a wider avenue.

Also have alternate school schedules: for specific grades that can handle it, and which mirror more what a real day is like in the college and working worlds. It was done with Kindergarden years ago, changing to half days either am or pm. Why not teach the students to prepare in advance for different schedules? Having an end to the day at 5pm-with corresponding instructor schedules.

Introduce first year trade school programs within the last two years of high school; keep the college prep courses which will transfer but also offer a comparable trade set for a variety of trades, which are also seen in the local and surrounding communities. – or off campus apprenticeship that would carry credit toward either college or a trade.

As far as the health issues, there are many nurse practitioners who are allowed to treat in place of a physician, however that depends on which state you live in, and which field of medicine. These practitioners are able to prescribe prescription drugs-however they also bear the burden of malpractice insurance and rarely make the money physicians do in this circumstance as they are often a fill in for smaller rural areas.

But it is pretty well accepted that many of the costs of those chronic conditions could have been avoided with different lifestyle choices earlier in life.

Although I agree with you 100% here, I simply do not trust the government not to abuse this particular area of health care.

How a choice will be defined and the events surrounding it will get deep and detailed, with some bureaucrat deciding perhaps an obese person needs to pay more based on their specifics without looking further into the actual problem created by each person; which there simply will never be enough resources to do.

We end up with what are perceived as old fashioned morals and responsibility of the family. At some point in time each person must step up and take some responsibility for themselves and the care of others in their family. I don’t have the answers, or suggestions because I believe until we face our problems with the family itself, we will not be able to solve any of them. The only thing I know at this point is what we as people are doing is not working either.

Thank you Diane I have gained a great deal from your perceptions on this topic. You have given me a lot to think about.

I think out schools should be flooded with money, and we should be giving kids the best education. All schools should be equal, too, but since they are funded by property taxes the more expensive neighborhoods are usually better.

Your comments about cost for your son’s wound – totally agree. Why can’t there be more clinics for that stuff? I went to one once and paid $50. I wrote a post about this, figuring the reasons were medical malpractice insurance and the cost of equipment and drugs. I’m sure there are medical workers who would love to work in *free clinics* in the US, but they probably can’t afford to, because of the insurance and costs associated.

I just still smell the stench of Wall Street involved in the system through stock prices, high CEO salaries, and “creative” accounting. The system needs to get itself away from those influences so it can concentrate only on health and not on the bottom line so much.

Yes, that is what concerns me also. Like the Cap & Trade plan…supposedly for the common good, but seems to be another scam for Wall Street or Enron type crooks.

The post office has never lost a package or letter of mine. However, lots of companies try and blame them for their neglect of a document.

• The Kaiser Family Foundation , a health care think tank, polled 1,205 people July 7-14 and found that 59 percent of people questioned would favor “a government-administered public health insurance option similar to Medicare to compete with private health insurance plans” and that 36 percent would oppose the idea.
• A second NBC/Wall Street Journal poll done July 24-27 asked 1,011 people whether they “would favor or oppose creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies.” Forty-six percent said they would favor the plan while 44 percent said they opposed the idea. The two news organizations asked the same question to 805 people between Aug. 15-17 and found that 43 percent favor a public option and 47 percent who oppose it. Both statistics fall within the three-point margin of error of the July poll.
• A New York Times/CBS poll of 1,050 people between July 24-28 asked whether they would “favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans.” Around 66 percent favored the idea and 27 percent opposed it.
• From July 27-Aug. 3, Quinnipiac University asked 2,409 voters whether they “support or oppose giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans.” Around 62 percent were in support and 32 percent were opposed. That’s down from a July 1 Qunnipiac survey in which 69 percent supported the public option and 26 percent opposed it.

But Canada’s Medicare is better.