Will those who are against a national health care plan change their minds if.....?

the US goes into a deep recession and they lose their jobs and insurance benefits.

It's easy to say you are against it when you are employed and your employer offers you health insurance as a benefit. But if jobs are cut back and millions lose their insurance benefits, what will they do if they can't find a job and can't afford insurance?

I doubt the republican party will change their minds. They still consider it communism to have national health care. What's funny, though, is that our VA (meaning veterans') health care system has been socialized for a long long time, and it works very well. So do the health care systems in most other countries in this hemisphere. Socialism really isn't such bad thing, contrary to what people may think.

Ritch, I have been a union supporter my WHOLE life. That's as close to socialism as I have come and that's pretty damn close. Opinions are just that, so back off. And you can't tell me what this President (dictator) has done to our government is any better than socialism. He has disgraced this country and I can't wait to get someone like Hillary in office so we can hold our heads high again. Furthermore, I'm not saying we should be a socialistic country. I love our democracy, and universal health care doesn't make us communists.

no

in an extreme case such as that, it might be nice to have temporary emergency care. but you don't have to worry about that.
times are not really that tough. just keep working hard, and buy American whenever possible.

No, I will not change my mind. I'll let Ronald Regan handle this one : "The nine scariest words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

That would certainly suck for those people but does that make it the responsibility of the rest of the nation to ensure them insurance coverage? I have been unemployed and uninsured before and I didn't expect the government to fund my insurance needs so why should anyone else? People need to quit expecting the government to solve their problems.

ain't it funny how all the conservative politicians don't want national health care but they got the best taxpayer supported health care that money can buy?

No, because the quality is tied to private vs. socialized healthcare. I would hate for the government (a.k.a. "you") to pay for me to get horrible care that could potentially make my life worse. Instead I would rather work, save my money (which most choose not to do), and be ready for any event that comes my way.

Presumably, if we go into a deep recession, that would mean less tax revenue coming in, and probably more tax revenue being spent on social programs (assuming Congress doesn't have the guts to make cuts in other areas, which seems to be the case.) This means our deficit continues to grow and grow.

Again, my biggest problem with universal health care is the people who you entrust to manage it. Why do you want a government that has run up the largest deficit in the history of humanity (at least as far as I know. . , I could be wrong on this) manage such a large sector of the economy?

No. Money and availabilty have nothing to do with my opinion of national healthcare. How many government sponsored programs can you name that hasn't been a royal clusterfuck? In fact, there are plenty of half-baked state sponsored programs to help out during a time of recession.

How bout let's find alternatives to oil? Go back to using glass and metals instead of so much petroleum based products? Stop being enslaved to Arabs? Depend on American goods and put people to work here in the states and start withdrawing some of the programs? Stop allowing stupid lawsuits (ooo I didn't know that coffee was hot!) (he offended me with that flag!) (that company had a nativity scene at Christmas! and omg they said Christmas!) That would help the recession and this conversation wouldn't be needed.

Nope. That's because I'm a long term thinker. I won't submit to a LIFE TIME of liberal socialism to help me through a couple of months of a job search.

By the way, I'm self employed and pay my family's medical insurance myself. It costs us $1,400 a month. That's a lot right? You'd think I'd be all for socialised medical care. Well, here's the deal. I'd be more than happy to accept your socialist scheme if it would cost me less...or even as much... but the fact is, it won't. And both choice and quality would be far less as well. It may cost you less, but that's because guys like me would be paying it for you. That's how our government works, particularly with socialists in control. They spread their dependency at the expense of folks like me.

UPDATE: The reason I'm self employed and have my own insurance is because I got layed off as a result of Clinton's recession...the one that liberals believe never happened. Within a month, I had my company and had bought insurance to cover my family's medical expenses and I didn't take a dime of unemployment. Again, that's conservative personal responsibility and accountability at work. THAT is what America used to be.

as a business owner and with my ties to a local union, I have been responsible for my own health-care for most of my life.The union does take money from my salary to pay if I am working for a union contractor.Anyone who is responsible has got back up for a recession.Nothing could ruin the economy faster than universal health-care. look at all countries that have it.There overall tax rate is much larger than ours.That would hobble the middle class.

I want to pay for the same healthcare given to the Federal Gov't employed..

while we are at it..since some are into redistribution of wealth

since we are headed into a deep recession why doesn't GWBush rescind the 4.2% raise the federal gov't automatically got two weeks ago?

that money should be redistributed back to the people that actually work for a living

This is an easy question. First of all their will be no national health plan if there are no taxes to pay for it. If people do not have jobs they don't pay taxes.

To MEGS: You mentioned how the Veterans health care is socialist and works very well. How can you even suggest that this is in any way good? Is this what you want for your own family. If you think this is great care then you know why so many are against universal health plans.

I am a veteran by the way and I have been to these so called hospitals. You get no choice of who your doctor is. You get which ever ones the government chose to hire. You may as well be prepared for a trip to the doctor to take most of the day if you go to a veterans clinic. There is no urgency in seeing anyone. (Bureaucracy at its finest). They don't get paid any different whether they see 2 patients an hour of 5 patients an hour. The doctors at a VA clinic are not required to have mal-practice insurance so a large percentage of questionable doctors apply to work there. I could go on and on about the Veterans care, but take the time to look for yourself. Look at the links I provided and if that isn't enough just type in vetrans health care problems and search. There are over 10 million web entries on that subject.

Ok idiot if we lose our jobs and go into recession where do the tax dollars come from to pay the medical bills? Dang don't you people ever think before you type. The money comes from us. Instead of an insurance company you can sue you make the government you can't sue in charge of making your medical decisions.

I'm against UHC and I have NEVER had insurance through an employer and in fact most of my life I have never had insurance. I also didn't make much money and I am chronically ill. I'm just not a hypocrite--I can't support UHC so the fact that I'd "benefit" from it is not going to change that.

The current system is a mess and I've tried for many years to get problems corrected--tried with employers, with politicians, etc. They don't listen.

It is true that IF some of these folks actually felt the pain, they would change their minds. However, UHC is NOT what people pretend it is. You get rationed care. They system goes bankrupt. It happens everywhere it exists and in the attempts at it that the US has (Medicare and Medicaid).

We need quality, accessible, affordable health care and that comes through a free market, which we do NOT have (been hijacked by government and big insurers for the most part). The fact that people are hung up on the delivery system of UHC instead of wanting results shows that this is an emotional attachment, not a policy issue. Again, PDF here:
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3068.htm...

Anything the government touches, they screw up. I DO NOT want them in control of my health, thank you very much.

With the continuation of outsourcing you would think that people would stop and consider the plight of their neighbors.

Americans overlook the effects of the poor housing market and poor American auto sales. Think about how many things go into a house and a car. You have the people that actually make the product, all the people that make the components, all the people involved in moving the components and the finished products, all the people that manufacture the raw materials from which the components are made.

Anyone in that chain of supply is subject to a pink slip at any time. As far as there being temporary help, define temporary. The auto jobs aren't coming back (I have to admire McCain for telling the politically incorrect truth on that score).

If you were a working senior like me (I've been working continuously for 50 years) you'd be morte than a little concerned regarding how you were going to get the health care that you need if you should lose your job. No meds, and I'm a goner.

Liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean little if you are deprived of the first component in that equation....life.