How do we fix this mess?

Definitely not Obama; definitely not his Deathcare. The first thing we do is remove the usurper. There is enough proof available to show he is not legitimately president because he is Constitutionally ineligible. Next remove Pelosi for fraud and treason re submitting false information of DNC certification re eligibility. Hold DNC to account and jail them also, along with traitor O, Pelosi, all the "administration" for treason. Then, clean up Congress for the cover up, failure to do their duty to uphold the constitution. Never again vote for someone who is the lesser of the 2 evils. Demand honesty and accountability of ALL elected officials - only ONE strike and they're gone. No more career politicians. No more abusive, racists like Boxer, Feinstein, Reid, etc. who insult their constituency and think they are our rulers rather than those who must serve us. Note how they tried to humiliate Joe Wilson for telling the truth to liar Obama about his unconstitutional deathcare policy. The first word out of their lying mouths was "racist" when he spoke the truth to a liar. Liars hate the truth and target anyone speaking it. Peolsi and her gang of thugs need to be lead away in shackles for allowing this traitor and America- hater to spit on our Constitution and destroy our freedoms. A new election could be called for and held in short time. But, most of all, Americans need to understand and be grateful for the God who gave us liberty, blessing and protection. We need to clean up our own hearts and our own act. We get exactly what we vote for when we think we are going to get something for nothing and electing our leaders is a popularity contest. We cannot discern truth and justice unless we know God and have the Holy Spirit, and this is not religion, but wisdom. Anyone, from any denomination or no denomination, can know God and gain the wisdom and desire to search for truth and justice. Leaders must be held to a higher standard and the only standard by which to judge them is the God standard; when he is removed by secularists there is NO standard; just look at our schools, etc. Otherwise we fall prey to deception and lies - hallmark of our age. We do not need our ears "tickled" with empty rhetoric, but we do need men of character to speak truth and wisdom (not empty, meaningless rhetoric), which may not be popular, in order to recover what we have lost, personally and collectively. This country was chartered under God and that is the only reason we were blessed. But we have chosen to impune our Creator in favor of the tyranny of man. Escaping the tyranny of man for the liberty of God was the exact reason people came to America in the first instance. Our foolishness, complacency, greed and love of materialism, worship of intellectualism and self instead of our God, has brought upon us the consequences of our own behavior and it's not so pretty. To clean up this mess, we must each first ask God to "create in me a new heart, a clean heart",a grateful heart, so as not to be like the traitor whose heart is hardened and whose conscience is seared and all those who installed and support him. We need to humble ourselves before the God who gave us EVERYTHING so that the man who gives us NOTHING and wants to take EVERYTHING away and all his kind will be brought to justice. Hope it's not too late.

No, we shouldn't give up the idea. I agree with what Hornswaggled said about transparency. But does anybody believe that the big corporations in this country are going to LET us pass a decent healthcare reform bill?

In this country there is no way you can effectively overhaul healthcare at this time. In order to reform healthcare (or any other major industry in this country), the first thing you have to do is eliminate special interest groups and lobbyists. We need to get back to one person, one voice. Companies do not vote! Unions do not vote! Organizations do not vote! People vote; but, right now it takes a lot of people to equal the influence of one lobbyist or special interest group. The second thing we need is an effective 3rd political party to break the deadlock between the Democrats and Republicans. These two parties are so used to opposing each other that they ignore the fact they are supposed to do what is best for the country; not, what is best for their party! If everyone that is dissatisfied with their party were to join to gether and form a third party (or increase the ranks of one of the tiny parties we already have established); the Democrats and Republicans would both be out of power in a very few years. Once these two things have been accomplished, the government can get back to the task of governing and get away from the rat race they are currently stuck in. Then, they can take a look at exactly what is broken (without lobbyists and special interest groups interfering or having to worry about what the party leaders are trying to push) and they will have a lot more options available to them for fixing the existing problems with healthcare and a lot of other areas. I don't think this will happen though; because, Obama doesn't have the guts to break the power of the special interest groups and lobbyists (after all they helped him get elected). And, right now, Americans are too polarized to break away from the Democrat/Republican rat race and seek common ground.

Let the market work... government has no business interfering in healthcare or business, and absolutely no business interfering in peoples lives and choices. Eliminate the regulations that is driving healthcare costs up, enact tort reforms, and let insurance companies compete across state lines. That will bring the costs down, whereas nationalization will not.

"If not Obama, then who?" Well, certainly no REPUBLICAN President, that's for sure!!! "If not this healthcare reform bill, then what?" IF we get a bill passed or even brought up for a vote I doubt it will look anything like any of the bills currently being worked on in the House and Senate. What we have now are different versions that several different committees have come up with but once they're done none of them will be recognizable. "Do we just leave things the way they are, or do we make different changes? Leaving things as they are would be a recipe for disaster! Health care costs are already rising at several times the rate of inflation and some estimates are that the average premium for family health coverage will be about $36,000 per year within the next decade. That's higher than the media income! "Should they just give up the whole idea or should they go back to the drawing board and start over?" I pray they don't just give up! My own opinion - which will be considered quite radical here - is to start over and when I say "start over" I mean scrap our current system of paying for health care and put a new one in place, preferably a "single-payer Medicare for all" type system. Sorry, I know how most here feel about "socialized medicine" but I'm not talking about government RUNNING health care, just about how it's paid for. I'm also not talking about "free" health care for all or covering illegal immigrants. I think there should be a sliding scale for co-payments based on one's ability to pay. I think the decision of what treatments a patient does or does not get should be up to the doctor and the patient and NOBODY ELSE! There's a lot that needs to be fixed as far as the administrative aspect of Medicare, etc. but I think it's doable. I don't think the health insurance industry or any of the huge individual companies are "too big to fail"; I think they've gotten too big for their britches and they're ruling - and ruining - our lives! Annie

Almost everybody agrees that something has to be done about the cost of health care. The problem with Washington is that they want to run everything, and they usually don't do a very good job. Another problem with Washington is that they quite often have caused the problems, that brought on the high cost, in the first place, with their laws, regulation, and restrictions. Washington doesn't seem at all interested in listening to ideas that get them out of the drivers seat. Until they are willing to put the good of the people first and listening to what they want, rather than what Washington wants, they should give up the whole idea. Obama should give up the idea as well. He doesn't seem any more willing to listen to what the people want than anyone else in Washington.

Healthcare? Maybe at a better time. Our economy is failing, and the dollar is tanking--and the creation of trillions of dollars out of thin air (something both Obama and Bush, and the Fed long before either of them bozos done for a long time) only sends us closer crashing to pit--the GAO, the treasury, everybody says we can't afford it! Well, I'd Love it if we fixed healthcare, but government spending is already the driving force killing the value of our dollar, besides, look at the Lovely job the government has done with dealing with social security and medicare/medicaid--do we really want this same kind of incompetence running the entire healthcare industry?

No matter what the elected officials in Washington propose it will take co-operation from the all mighty insurance companies to do anything. They have to make a profit and so far hold the key as to what they will and will not cover. Doctors have had their payments cut by insurance companies and facilities. But the third party payors, both private and state need to work harder for the betterment of the population. This will not be an easy fix no matter what the President or the Congress says. Money talks.

I haven't read any of the responses, so as usual, I apologize beforehand if I step on anyone's point. I just don't wany any previously written answers to weigh on my response. I strive for originality. Seriously, though. Miamalady, I like your discussions. I don't think I've responded to one in a while, though, but I'm happy to add my two cents. I think you're asking the wrong questions at the start. It shouldn't be "If not Obama" or, "if not this bill." Personally, I think we're all a bit jaded by the politics in America, whether or not you're for or against Obama and his policies and administration. I think the question to ask is, "How we do we START to fix healthcare in America?" It should be about the country--the people!--and not right or left, tea partiers V admin., liberal media V Fox, etc. It shouldn't be about private V public, either, because that's misrepresentative of the problem. Both sides have dropped the ball, big time, and the constant blaming back and forth is sickening at this point. I think that we should start small with changes and not push for a complete overhaul. Moreover, and oh so ironically, the complete overhaul bill that's being proposed (whichever bill it is -- the principles are the key) and trying to be rammed through wouldn't even start making any significant changes until a few years down the road. So right away, at least to me, the "rush" is false. Rome wasn't built in a day, and they definitely didn't have 300+ million citizens to take care of Small measures are key here. The absolutely smallest of steps would turn out to be a gargantuan leap. For example, instead of wanting government money (insurance) to compete with private money by way of a "choice," I believe that this government should work to do away with that inane rule that health insurance companies are state-specific. They should be allowed to compete on a wide scale, thus dropping prices a bit. And while that's going on, the government can work simultaneously to get the corruption out of the medicare! For Pete's sake! Every admin knew it was going on, but they let it happen. And this admin seems as if they're using it as a bargaining chip, only willing to clean it up if their proposal gets passed. That's so unfair to our seniors! They need to get the corruption and wasteful spending out! And while those two measures are happening simultaneously, the government can also contract a private(!!) company or put together a private board to provide oversight for private insurance companies. A lot of those shmucks are crooks and SHOULD NOT have free reign to pick clean the bones of our sick and helpless. And even while that's going on, the government can also work to set up an outsourced option (though not a government-run option) that would use tax dollars from the most expensive policies--purchased by the richest holders, obviously--to set up a private(!!) option, under the same scrutiny from an oversight committee, to provide insurance for those who truly cannot provide for themselves. Basically, these are four small steps that can happen IMMEDIATELY to bring enormous change. Right now, it looks like both sides are just trying to seize control of healthcare, and it is not theirs to seize control of! Our health belongs to us! The government should be willing to provide security for us. You can liken it to a bodyguard and not a nanny, if you will. They don't have to go back to the drawing board. There are enough good ideas on the table to get it done. But both sides demand too friggin' much! I will give Obama credit (assuming he's being truthful). He seems willing to compromise, whereas others sharing his ideology will not budge. Something's gotta give. As I said, it's not THEIR health; it's ours. Sorry if I'm rambling. I've had 5 Jameson's.

First of all what mess is there? We have the best health care in the world. The majority of "uninsured" are not uninsured except when the choose to be. (Of course there are a few exceptions to every rule) At my place of employment there are a lot of people who choose not to be insured. They claim it's too expensive. Well guess what my insurance is expensive to. But I don't leave the burden of paying for my health care on someone else to pay because I'm too sorry to buy health insurance when it's offered to me. I would rather spend my money elsewhere too. The people who really can't afford insurance have a government option - it's called medicaid and medicare. People enrolled in those programs get the best health care in the country. They don't have to worry if insurance will cover it. Illegal aliens - go back home and get your health care there. I think if an illegal alien shows up at the hospital they should immediately be detained for deportation. Don't tell me how good a people they are - their first act in our country was to commit a crime by entering illegally. So really where is all the mess? Handle the illegals, stop letting the leeches in society suck us all dry and the insurance premiums will come down. Solve the real problem don't make new ones.