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The president today characterized the "problem" with the American health care system as being not similar enough to buying a car. Lets go to the quote here...

''When you go buy a car you're able to shop and compare,'' Bush said. ''And yet in health care that's just not happening in America today.''

His grand solution to the cost companies have to pay for health care is to dump the problem at the feet of the consumer. That's completely consistent with his overall agenda to eliminate the middle class by costing them out of existence. In Bush's world there's only 2 classes, the very wealthy (who are the real winners in the war on taxes) and the people that serve them. As part of his plan to eliminate any wealth or savings they might have he wants to push his 'savings account' mentality into health care costs. The underlying idea being that if consumers were forced to pay for ALL their health care it would cost less because they would "shop around".

Interesting.

So as Grandad is in the ambulance you tell the driver - "No! we can't go to the nearest hospital, we need to go to the cheapest! Head for the Tijuana!".

You've got a suspicious dark spot on your shoulder. You think you should go to the dermatologist but wait! They're having a 2 for 1 special - you start calling your friends to see if anyone else might have skin cancer and wants to help share the cost.

The "Tonight Show" is now brought to you by doctors trying to get 50-somethings to come in for colonoscopies because it's a "special no money down" sale event....

I really don't understand why the cost of health care should be managed by the consumers. I don't necessarily see why it's our fault that doctors have to pay enormous premiums to insurance companies. I don't see how making us pay for those premiums is going to help. I don't see why making it harder for patients to find the best doctor should be complicated by cost. If you have cancer you don't fucking care WHAT it costs to get well if the alternative is to be dead. So where's the incentive to shop around?

Yes health care costs money but it's not a problem for the consumers - it's a problem that the government needs to address and regulate. It's why we pay taxes, so our government can identify, address and fix issues we can't. Well that was in an age when the government had an obligation to the mass of it's population - and not just the fucking insanely wealthy. It seems that tax breaks for the rich weren't enough. Now premium healthcare will belong only to that class as well.

I suppose part of the problem is that Bush doesn't believe in evolution... He can't grasp the fact that once the organisms that support the higher life forms die out - the higher life form must die too. Oh wait - he's probably thinking that by then the second coming will have happened.