Tom, a warning I am not in a good mood, you'll understand why in a few seconds. But your dismissive tone towards the less fortunate got me going.

Health Care; a sticky subject, especially if you are one of the majotiry who cannot afford decent health care. Like me.

Tom you are a smart man, and I have gained a great deal of respect for your intelligence and strong feeling on some subjects which I do agree with you on.

But, Tom do you know what most low income people do when they become ill?

They suffer, sometimes for a long time, then they die long before they should. Some think it is no great loss, reducing the 'surplus population' and all that. Before you go off on me saying they have alternate resources, I'll tell you, I see them evey day, and mostly they don't.

I have to be at work in the morning at 6 AM, should be in bed, but even if I bothered to lie down I'd not sleep. My left kneecap is the size of a large orange and it hurts very much, it has been that way since Wen of last week. My right one does the same thing from time to time. It isn't a life-threatening thing, but it sure makes life miserable for me two weeks out of six on average.

I have a $230.00 brace that I got a couple of years ago for when this happens. At that time we didn't have insurance so I had to pay for it myself, which meant we had to make a deal with utility companies to spread the bills out over 4 months. Want to know an interesting little factoid? It can be fixed with surgery, now you're asking why the f**k don't I get it fixed?

Because the insurance we have, which is provided by my wife's employer, one of the larger Indian Tribes, (mine can't afford to provide health care). Determined it was a pre-existing condition which it was. The surgery would cost in the range of 7 to 10 K$, for one knee. No way, no how could we afford that, so every three or four months I spend a week or so hobbling around hurting so bad I am awake in the middle of the night.

What's worse, I am among the many who endure this sort of thing. Last numbers I saw there were over 40 millions Americans with inadequate health care or insurance, the number for the underinsured is much higher. And the number is growing.

I am not telling this for any sympathy I am trying make a point, the health care system in this country is not available to a large percentage of its citizens due to cost. That insurance I mentioned, $218 a month, close to $2600 a year. Which is tough for us to meet every month, but we do, if we don't and something drastic happens, we'd be so far in debt we'd spend the rest of our lives paying it off. This does make me far more fortunate than a large number of local folk, they have no insurance at all. I can name a large number who are residents of the local stone garden club now because they couldn't afford to get certain aches and apins looked at soon enough. By the time they were forced to go to the local emrgency room it was too late, the cancer had spread or their hearts were to damaged.

Don't make assumptions Tom, one hell of a lot of people in this country die each year because they do not have access to decent health care.
Hospital emergency rooms are a last resort, a very sorry substitute for real health care.

Do I want the Government to controll access to health care? Hell No!
Do I want a better system than we have now? Hell Yes!
Do I have an answer, unfortunately, no. And I know those morons in Washinton don't either.