Quote Originally Posted by gas. View Post
I'd venture to guess that 70% of Americans don't even know what socialism actually entails, outside of whatever political pundits their idiocy leads them to follow.

These same people have no issue with their ability to call 911 for an emergency instead of a third-party company, as would happen in a true capitalist state. They also likely have no qualms about their option to send their children to a state/federally funded school or the fact that they'll pay taxes for said schools regardless to whether or not their children enroll there. Schools are the best parallel to a public option of health care as their should be a private option for those who want to pay more for preferred treatment. We're not even digging into the libraries, post office, road works, public works, etc.

Notice the inconsistencies? Every socialist style program implemented in this country was met with strong resistance at first, yet once the fruits of the endeavour come to light, it is generally regarded as the best option. Screaming out "socialism" or "communism" against something is nothing more than 70's style scare tactics as we've enough programs in today's society that fit that definition that it takes a generally uneducated person to point their finger at just one instance and disregard the others.

So you're required to own health insurance or get fined? Auto-insurance is required as well.. where is the anger directed at this? It's not so much to protect you, the driver, but the other drivers on the road as well as you'd likely not be able to afford the costs to the other vehicle's driver in an accident. Much like you having to pay into your own insurance in case something happens to you and it not being completely at the cost of other people's expense. We're already paying for other people's health care. Preventative care cuts costs. What is cheaper, paying for someone to go to the doctor when he has the sniffles or taking on the cost of his pneumonia treatment?

Though, I do think a private option should be available to people.
I still don't have health insurance, and I'm very healthy. If i don't get it by April 1st, I will get fined by both federal and state 1,000 each I believe when I do my income taxes for 2010. If I decide to get health insurance once I get hurt or a serious problem occurs... I will get denied the most premium of coverage and get limited coverage. We pay for the health care of prisoners. Honestly, why? Why do we even feed them? Because the constitution and the bill of rights comes into play. So this is why whomever mentioned the constitution needs to learn what exactly the constitution and the bill of rights entails, and where exactly your money is going into.