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When we get the Cap and Trade to regulate production and use of energy, we will also need some behavior modification to help the “bluedogs” and “conservatives” (and other undesireables), recognize the wisdom of our leader, and to be happy with HIS decisions:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-3247

“Text of H.R. 3247: To establish a social and behavioral sciences research program at the Department of Energy, and…”

The GOP isn’t even supporting these. They’re supporting nothing, other than to oppose for political reasons. Ultimately I think this is a self-defeating strategy because it presumes that Republicans believe that everything is just hunky dory in the U.S. when it comes to health care which no one believes it and it also presumes Republicans feel hospital emergency rooms are the catch all universal health coverage for those who can’t afford insurance (which has gone a long way to raise costs).

Right-wing Democrats are a part of the game when it comes to health care and GOP is sitting on the sidelines. Whoever did anything when they didn’t play?

Also, the “market” is not a magical force; it is a word used to describe human choices about what to consume and what to produce. I’ll refer you to mises.org. On that site, you will find a PhD worth of information about how human choices, undistorted by well-intentioned central planners, lead to best possible outcomes for the herd and the individual.

I love you progressives. You all have such good intentions, and I find charming your faith that putting the right smart persons in charge of the right federal program will lead to a more perfect world… kind of like Star Trek.

Keep up the good fight, brother Winston… all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Contrary to popular belief, Americans are not sicker than the populations of other OECD countries. In most major categories, the prevalence of disease in the United States is significantly below that of other industrialized nations. (Diabetes is the only notable exception.) Because we smoke much less than our peer nations, the incidence of smoking-related diseases is far lower.”

Red, please, argue over the best system, and about constitutionality, but do so from a base of intellectual honesty. There are many readily available studies that totally undermine the point you have made.

As for the doctrine of enumerated powers, it is not Red or Winston who defines its applicability, but the Supreme Court. Perhaps one day they will again see it the way you do, but since the 1930′s they have not. In any case, you are quite right to imply that I believe an America under the doctrine you prefer would be a far worse place than it is today.

Of course it is. Absolutely unequivocally.

“Absence of specific authorization does not mean that such activities are not permissible.”

Ah, yes it does. It is called the doctrine of enumerated powers. It is what the majority of the Founder’s intended and what the States thought they were getting when they ratified the Constitution. It is a key doctrine of originalism and is what is generally meant when someone describes themselves as a constitutionalist. You may not agree with it, but it is not a novel idea so you should be familiar with it.

Length of life issues in America are not a medical system issue. We pour way more into end of life care than do other countries. It is a health, lifestyle, diet, etc. issue. The medical system can not be faulted that Americans eat unhealthy and don’t exercise, just like the medical systems in Europe can’t be faulted that more of their people smoke.

I have had some significant interaction with the health system of an advanced Western nation courtesy of the USAF and while the care there was good and competent, it was minimalistic by US standards.

But on the whole, an excellent and well-thought out post. Your points are definitely worth considering.

To say that your opposition, the GOP, has NOTHING worth considering is perhaps an oversimplification.

To miss that what is wrong with the medical delivery process in our country is due to crook politicians of BOTH PARTIES, is unfortunate, in that now you can’t account for what may seem to you an irrational reluctance on the part of the public to hand massive money to the folks who have created the problem in the first place.

But this was a nicely-done analysis, I am the better for having read it.

I didn’t say that our healthcare system was perfect, nor did I site the magic of the marketplace, although there is certainly something to be said for it. The Constitution does not grant to the Feds ANY role in healthcare whatsoever. The only thing the Republicans could do that is constitutional is start dismantling government programs that are already in place, tinker with tax policy, and tinker with patent policy for new drugs. Nothing else that I can think of. Before you present to me some list of things the Feds ought to do, please site the Article and section of the Constitution that authorizes it.