One of the reasons health care has always had such a high priority with liberals is that our exploding health care costs actually contribute to our economic woes. It's no coincidence that in an economy in trouble, health care costs continue to increase, and profits for the health care industry continue to rise. No one benefitting from the present system has any incentive in seeing it change.

Controlling health care costs is a goal of so-called "socialized medicine", a goal that the free market seems either unable or unwilling to embrace. Reducing those costs, and shifting some of them to the overall tax burden would make it easier for the average person to afford health care, and easier for employers to provide it for their workers. Either way, that will make us more competitive with other countries.

Every civilized country in the world does this, the fact we are the only one that bitterly resists it cannot be swept under the rug any longer, or cavalierly dismissed as the first step down a slippery slope to Communist enslavement. That is utter bilge. Neither can we dismiss or ignore the statistics that continue to show us falling further and further behind other nations in our overall national health, such as life expectancy and neonatal survival rates.

Oh sure, our health care is second to none, but only for those who can afford it. The alternative is that people (especially the poor, minorities or the aged)either will get sick, die or face bankruptcy when they don't have to, or their care will simply be shifted onto emergency rooms. None of these options is cost-effective in the long run to the society as a whole.

Government involvement in health care is not without problems, and pointing them out is legitimate and necessary. We need public involvement and debate, from the medical professions, the public, the industry and insurers. And yes, there will be high costs, inefficiency, waste, and downright fraud. But can defenders of a laissez-faire health system claim their way is free of any of these drawbacks? Isn't having market forces culling our excess population just as reprehensible (and much more likely) than the dreaded "death panels". And can we tolerate any further the reasoning that I suspect really drives opposition to any form of government involvement at all?

"I can afford health insurance. Why should I be taxed to help take care of those who can't?"

The same perverse argument could be made for every other function of government; most of us pay school taxes even after our kids grow up, or even if we have no kids at all. We owe it to our country, and to our fellow citizens, particularly those most unfortunate among us. Its the patriotic thing to do.