John Kerry's goal is nationalized health care and the destruction of the private insurance industry...

Maybe America can make it work, who knows? Universal healthcare is a marvelous goal

But if healthcare is nationalized, the private industry decimated, and then the universal system starts breaking down--which it historically has a tendency to do--it will leave a sizable vacuum where before there was at least private care.

America would do itself a favor by taking the Canadian example seriously. The healthcare system there seemed (outwardly at least) to be chugging along ok for quite some time, but in the last decade some very dangerous cracks have appeared. If it collapses (and that is a possibility), it'll leave a huge number of Canadians without health coverage.

Why doesn't private industry simply rush in to fill the void? Because the Canadian government has spent decades making sure it's either difficult or impossible for industry to get involved in healthcare. There's great fear in the bureaucracy that private endeavors will undermine government programs, ie, no one will want to participate in the govt program if there are superior private programs as an alternative. Sounds farfetched? Do some research, you'll find that it's true.

I'm not saying the same thing will neccessarily happen here, but if America wants to explore socialized medicine, let's at least do it with our eyes open. If we try it and it fails, it could leave our children or grandchildren in a very precarious position.