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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (134143)	3/29/2001 6:07:21 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Well politics to the left of center isn't completely dead -- but it's not looking that healthy. Clinton did start his term (eight years ago now) with a lurch to the left. WRT to gays in the military, I suspect that Clinton just thought he was righting a wrong and paying off the gay advocates cheaply and just totally misjudged the situation. The Democrats have indeed adopted a pro-choice platform, but it's very much a defensive position; I see little active combat to preserve accessibity of abortions and other reproductive services. A more apt example would be health care reform, which was a big effort of the Clinton administration. What happened to it? It was drowned in $250 million of advertising. Now, I'm pretty sure you didn't like the proposal. But before you tell me all the things that were wrong with it, consider the current health care situation: Health care consumes one-seventh of our GDP, about double the ratio of most other industrialized countries. We pay twice the going rate for the rest of the world for prescription drugs. Most people have no choice in their coverage since it's tied to their jobs. The health care customer is the employer, whose interests are not directly aligned with the patient's interests. The HMOs devote huge overhead to non-medical costs, and continually interfere with the practice of medicine, destroying the doctor's ability to be an advocate for the patient. If you are self-employed or work for a small company, your health insurance options are even worse since you cannot bargain as a member of a group. Fifty million Americans have no coverage at all, mostly because they can't afford it or they have a "pre-existing condition". Most Americans are deeply dissatisfied with this situation. Are any improvements even under discussion? No. Why not? Ask yourself how much money is lobbying for change, and how much is lobbying against change.