See comments inline.

>You are referring to socialized healthcare which this country is working towards in a slow manner. I disagree with that personally. Healthcare at others expense leads to unecessary care that clogs doctor's offices, hospitals and the health system in general.

How do you define "unecessary care"? Where do you trace the line? Maybe you won't see a doctor about that small bump that grows on your neck because you fear that it will be "unecessary". Maybe that small bump will reveal to be a cancer and by the time you go see a doctor it will be too late to treat.

I don't agree that healthcare is at others expense. Remember that I pay taxes too. Our "socialist" healthcare system is like your health insurance, you pay premiums for your insurance, I pay taxes. The big difference is that every canadians pay taxes (thus lowering the "premiums") while only the rich pays the premium for your insurance.

>I read recently that a patient in Canada must wait 24 days for an appointment with a cardiologist and an additional 15 days for the same type of emergency surgery that Bill Clinton received. When my ex-husband had heart-bypass surgery they detected the problem and operated within 4 days. In Sweden, supposedly they have to wait up to 11 months for heart x-rays and 8 months for essential surgery. I don't know if these numbers are factual or not, I read them in an article while I was waiting to see the doctor with my daughter just two days ago. She had an ear and sinus infection and then caught Strep throat on top of it all. We were in and out of the doctor's office in a short period of time with a prescription that I got
>filled within the hour. When my appendix burst I stopped by the doctor's office in the morning and had surgery within 3 hours. I cannot complain about the general nature of our healthcare system now, only that there is a lot of bureacracy with some insurance carriers and not all employers offer affordable health insurance.

You wait less because you have the money. Those who don't can't go to the doctor's office and are left out on their own. Sorry, I couldn't accept that.

>All systems (capitalist and socialist) of healthcare have problems, but this country was founded on the principle of less government not more and as it is our government spends too much money on too much junk and all of it without consulting the tax payer.

Bush had spend a lot of money on the war in Irak (junk). He went in election and you reelected him. Don't say that you weren't consulted.

>I want to see less taxes, less government, and less spending as it is. With the amount of taxes we pay now we should be receiving free healthcare (instead of our dollars going to other countries) but I don't think socialist healthcare is the answer.

What? You want to let the poor contries in their miseries and keep all the resources (money) to yourself? Talk about being selfish...

>I would prefer to see that money in my pocket and let me continue to pay for my health insurance and choose my doctors. You won't like this but I really feel that there are plenty of countries out there whose government provides socialist healthcare and whose government in general leans towards socialism and those that want a socialist system should choose those countries over the U.S. If you want the government to take care of you then another government is the answer, not changing ours to a socialist system. We need to go back to our roots and get out of big government. This is not a welfare state nor should it become one. Those services have certainly become available to all and so people have come to expect them, but that is not the same thing as a 'right' to them. I will never believe in taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. It only leads to the poor staying poor and staying reliant on the government.

If you don't give any ressources to the poor, how do you expect them to get out of their misery? Take a kid that is very bright and whiling to work hard, but come from a poor family. That kid won't be able to go very far in school because it will be too expensive to the parents and the parents may require the kid to start working (at minimum wages) to help the family. That kid will be stuck in the vicious circle of poverty. Imagine if he get sick...

To me, less government = law of the jungle, where only the strong (richer) survive. Personnaly, I don't wish that humanity lower itself to the level of animals.