Health Care Now

700 billion here, 700 billion there...along the way, why not set up a healthcare system that works, President Obama? From Krugman:

a populist rage building in this country, as Americans see bankers getting huge bailouts while ordinary citizens suffer...research sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund shows that achieving universal coverage with a plan similar to Mr. Obama's campaign proposals would add "only" about $104 billion to federal spending in 2010-not a small sum, of course, but not large compared with, say, the tax cuts in the Obama stimulus plan. It's true that the cost of universal health care will be a continuing expense, reaching far into the future. But that has always been true, and Mr. Obama has always claimed that his health care plan was affordable.

Obama needs to take action on this promise now. So far, he's concerned about prisoners at Gitmo, pregnant Africans, and Big Banks...but not the millions here that are about to lose or have just lost access to non emergency room doctors because they've lost their jobs.

We can't afford any of the stimulus bill - but we may as well prioritize our debt spending. Tax cuts are less important than bringing America into the 20th century on health care.
And please don't tell me how great the system is in America. The health care "system" in America does not exist for millions, is awful for millions more - all so the a majority can pay obscene premiums to a middle man insurance company for what amounts to barely decent care.

Obama: TACKLE THIS NOW. America, with the "best health care system in the world" is 37th in infant mortality. Below Cuba, Canada, Malta, the U.K., and of course, the mighty Andorra... Yup we're the best! In life expectancy we rank 30th. A full 16 places behind...Israel.