Nelie,
have you ever had any direct experience with the VA? I have, I am a Vietnam Veteran. I have actually spent 3 weeks in a VA hospital. I have many friends who are veterans.

Most health organizations that I know of are non-profit. Certainly some are in it for profit but is that always a bad thing. Kaiser is taking it's profits and building new hospitals and improving their infrastructure.

Yes we do spend more than the Canadians and the UK - would I trade my health care for what they get - not on your life. Do I trust the government to wisely spend my money - hell no. Socialized medicine has many downfalls and you need to be more factual and specific. We have one of the best health care systems in the world. Prove me wrong.

I have to totally agree with Bob that if the government gets it's hands on the money for a universal health we will be universally f****d up.

What we are really talking about here are the 15% of Americans who do not have a health plan. 85% of us do.

I am not arguing that all Americans should have some form of health care, just that addressinbg the 15% that don't shouldn't require a "universal" health care system.

Did you know that the American health system demand for state of the art medical devices constitutes 52% of the entire global market?

Did you know that we have more comprehensive cancer centers in California than all of Canada!