It's the decent thing.

I'm jobless. Have been for 10 years. Because I'm retired. In today's economy, I don't know if that's good or bad. I have social security. And a pension. I own a home. Bought and paid for. I have Medicare. And supplemental insurance. For which I pay a premium every 3 months. I'm not rich by American standards. But I get by. I suppose that makes me relatively lucky under present economic conditions. Especially since I'm healthy. But hey, at 73, one never knows. Suppose the same goes for a 43-year-old. Health can be the most important thing in one's life. That's why I'm for universal health care. I think it's unfair and wrong that not every American has guaranteed health care. It's a basic necessity of life. It should be a societal obligation to see that everyone has it. Yet, in America, some 50 million people are without health insurance. I suspect more and more Americans are losing their health insurance, too. When they lose their jobs. Ain't fair. In other industrialized countries, the jobless (actually, everyone) has access to paid health care. Yes, socialized medicine. A good thing. Especially in bad economic times. That's why we have government. The private sector will sell you health care. For a price. The relatively affluent can usually afford it. Albeit, at a fairly high premium. Because there's lots of profit built in. Maybe sometimes an obscene profit. I like it when government finds a way to put a lid on those costs. By forcing providers to take less profit. By regulation. Seems to me that government's responsibility is to serve the common good. Particularly, the needy. In a capitalist society, such as ours, we can't always leave that up to the private sector. Because there's so much greed. That's what has America and the world, for that matter, in such a bad economic way. A big gap between the rich and the poor. To fix it, I'd like to become something of a Robinhood. I'd take from the rich. And distribute much of it to the poor. The needy. I know that's an alien thought. Especially to Republicans. And to many of the 'haves.' Many of the 'haves' think that the 'have-nots' are lazy bums. Wanting to be on the public dole. Well, when it comes to health care, I think that's all right. Even a lazy bum should be covered under our health care system. It's a basic human right. It's the decent thing. --Jim Broede