Iraqi People Fear Democrat Victory(Chig.Trib.)

[guyone]

Look at Sweden, a good example of a well-functioning social democracy. Finland and Norway (one of the most developed nations in the world, according to the UN along with Japan and -wait for it- Canada) are also closer to the socialist than the capitalist ideal.

They also have the highest suicide rates.

Umm...doesn't smoking do all of that to you too? Shall we ban it? Let's ban it in the interests of public health and republicanism!

For all intents and purposes smoking is banned in the US.

And as for the Canadians who come over to the US, perhaps they do so because of America's admittedly excellent private healthcare. The Mayo Clinic is a hop away from Canada and the best medical centre in the world.

The reason why Canadians come to the US for healthcare is they have to wait in line for a week to get a band-aid from the government.

What is more, most Canadians can afford private healthcare in the US, which shows that their economy is strong and that there is a fair distribution of wealth (probably fairer than in the US).

They can afford the private healthcare because they have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. The Canadian government doesn't help them [please correct me if I'm wrong WMC]. As far as a fair distribution of wealth? What kind of Marxist crap is that? Hey you work you get paid. If you don't...sleep in the gutter. The problem with governmental employees is that they can't get fired and they wind up sitting on their fat asses all day, ignoring their responsibilities yet it is the successful execution of personal responsibilities that makes the world go round.

Isn't 'Socialist Worker' an oxymoron?

http://www.oxymoronlist.com/#s

[White_Male_Canada]

What is more, most Canadians can afford private healthcare in the US, which shows that their economy is strong and that there is a fair distribution of wealth (probably fairer than in the US).

False. Unemployment rates are higher in Canada. A single male who refuses to work will only be given about 300 dollars per month in welfare payments.

People who are dying of cancer and in need of immediate surgery don`t care about cost when it is a matter of life and death.Would you worry about money if you needed immediate care?

It takes an average of about 9 weeks to get from GP to specialist in Canada.From specialist to treatment another 9 weeks. Typical CT scan 4.3 weeks,normal MRI 10.3 weeks.Some patients are sent to the US by local Provincial governments for immediate treatment but waiting times remain.

The total waiting time for patients between referral from a general practitioner and treatment, averaged across all 12 specialties and 10 provinces surveyed, increased to 17.8 from 17.7 weeks.
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/...s/wyt2006.pdf#

They can afford the private healthcare because they have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. The Canadian government doesn't help them [please correct me if I'm wrong WMC]. As far as a fair distribution of wealth? What kind of Marxist crap is that? Hey you work you get paid. If you don't...sleep in the gutter. The problem with governmental employees is that they can't get fired and they wind up sitting on their fat asses all day, ignoring their responsibilities yet it is the successful execution of personal responsibilities that makes the world go round.
[size=24][color=blue]
Isn't 'Socialist Worker' an oxymoron?

The late Premier of Quebec Robert Bourassa went to the U.S. Johns Hopkins health centre for treatment of his cancer. That just about says it all. Even the Pols who preach single payer bolt like colts to get the best care ASAP when it is life and death.

The socialist health care system in Canada is cracking. In 2005 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Quebec government cannot prevent people from paying for private insurance for health-care procedures covered under medicare.

Private clinics are legal in some instances. It`s a no brainer to state that denying inidividuals their rights is a fundamental violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Although the court were split 3-3 on that issue,fearing an immediate collapse of the socialist Canada Health Act.

Military personnel, the RCMP, prisoners and workers' compensation claimants don't fall under the socialist medicare umbrella. All of them are exempt from the Canada Health Act. That means they get to jump the long queue.So the utopians mantra of equal health care for all is a fallacy.

Nadeem Esmail, senior health policy analyst with the Fraser Institute stated that there are 4 tiers in Canada. The first tier comprises those who are wealthy enough to go abroad for timely care.The second is made up of the aforementioned special population groups - military, RCMP, prisoners and WCB claimants.People in the third tier have pull or influence. In the fourth tier are average Canadians who need care but have no way of expediting the process,the average schmuck.

Althought no system is ever perfect, the US, with it`s superior system,affordability itself is NOT THE WHOLE ISSUE.

The US Census Bureau- nearly one-third of those without insurance live in households with an annual income of $50,000 or more !

14 million uninsured adults and children are currently eligible for government medical coverage, such as Medicaid, but have not enrolled in any program. The parents of 5 million eligible children have failed to enroll them. For people who lack insurance for a period of time, about 75 percent are without it for less than a year(usually because they are in transition from one job to another).11.8 million of the uninsured are foreign-born, and 9.5 million of those are non-citizens.


PS: don`t wanna come across as an a***ole know-it-all, don`t own a sheep-skin that says PHD on it but I do have infinite patience to do the proper research.Stacks of books on shelves and hundreds of word files easily accessable. I`m sick and tired of the Big Lie,lie by omission,disinformation,misinformation and all around general stupidity as seen on ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN,etc.That`s why we`re here,to pound socialists/neo-marxists to dust.

[LG]

guyone said:

They also have the highest suicide rates.

Rubbish. Another fallacy. Sweden's suicide rates may be higher than in some other European countries (and the reasons usually cited have more to do with weather and lack of sunlight than with economic theories) but they are not much higher than those in the US according to most sources including the table below, which is based on WHO statistics:


Wikipedia puts Sweden's suicide rate at 13.4 per 100 000 population. The suicide rate for males is 18.9 per 100,000. In the US, the male suicide rate is 17.6 per 100,00. The highest rates seem to be in the former communist (and now capitalist) countries.

guyone also said:

For all intents and purposes smoking is banned in the US.

No, you are still allowed to smoke tobacco in your own home. You are not allowed to smoke weed though and there have been cases of people being imprisoned in the US for having small quantities of weed for personal use.

WMC wrote:

Althought no system is ever perfect, the US, with it`s superior system,affordability itself is NOT THE WHOLE ISSUE.

Affordability is important. Not every uninsured American can afford private health care. Canada's healthcare is not inferior to America's. True, for some procedures waiting lists can be long and a few Canadians do cross the border, although not as many as you are suggesting. But waiting times for emergencies are short, survival rates are comparable to America's and the average lifespan is higher in Canada than in the US.

The key is that all Canadians will receive adequate healthcare. Uninsured Americans who cannot afford to pay their medical bills will not neccessarily receive adequate treatment.

In any case, it's true that some Canadians are not entirely happy with the system and therefore their federal and provincial governments are due to spend a lot of money to ensure faster treatment. At the moment, Canada actually spends less per capita then the US on healthcare.

The US remains one of the few developed nations without universal health care. Americans have to wait an average of 3 1/2 hours for emergency care. True, if you have the cash, America's health care is, at its best, top class (if you're talking about the likes of Mayo and Johns Hopkins). But what if you don't?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15487676/

Canada is not perfect. But I believe that universal health care offers a safety net that you cannot find in the US.

See also:
http://matthewholt.typepad.com/the_h...h_canad_1.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...GR28JFEN59.DTL
http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/he...ons/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2004/...are040504.html

Then again, WMC, I appreciate that you may have seen this first hand and had a bad experience of Canadian healthcare. But, from what I know and have read, the Canadian system, though far from perfect at the moment, has its fair share of good points.

[guyone]

This is really typical commie mealy mouth bullshit. Sweden, Finland, Norway the countries you mentioned DO HAVE HIGHER SUICIDE RATES!!! IT"S ON YOUR CHART!!! And how do you know why each sap offed himself? They all killed themselves because it was cloudy???

Many, many Americans smoke pot in their homes and in the street. It's pretty readily available. You just can't walk up to a cop and blow a plume of pot smoke into his face and say "Howdy brother!" without getting what amounts to be a ticket.

[LG]

Everything is relative, guyone.
France and Japan have higher rates of suicide than Scandinavia. And the difference between 19 per 100,000 and 20 per 100,000 isn't that huge. Did you even bother to take a proper look at the chart?

[guyone]

Yes I did. And did you notice at the bottom of the chart they attribute suicide rates to socialist conditions and less to climate conditions?

[White_Male_Canada]

The key is that all Canadians will receive adequate healthcare. Uninsured Americans who cannot afford to pay their medical bills will not neccessarily receive adequate treatment.

Americans have to wait an average of 3 1/2 hours for emergency care.

I`ve already conclusively proven there are multiple tiers of healthcare in Canada and private clinics. Your term adequate is vague,non-descript and cannot be quantified. Adequate for you may be deemed inferior to many Canadians,as private clinics have proven. Adequate is a subjective word.

It is the law in the USA that no one be turned away from emergency rooms. The waiting times in Canada in emergency rooms are equal or longer. This I know from personal experience.