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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Helgoland]

MMPR

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers?

[Max White]

Fuck it, just watch this.

Sorry, but this video is unavailable from your location.
But hey, at least you have kangaroos and boomerangs.

I shit you not, it actually says that.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Yeah, Daily Show and Colbert Report have Not-America messages for several different locations.

[Owlbread]

Mine is pretty boring, nothing unique there.

[lue]

MMPR

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers?

No, silly, Mixed Member Proportional Represenation!

[Descan]

Mine just goes to the tried-and-true "Free healthcare!"

I mean, it's not -free-, but it's far cheaper than Americas and many more people and things are covered. So it's better. And you get to choose your doctor!

(seriously it's like if you took a single American-style insurance company, made it non-profit, and made everyone pay in to it and they covered nearly everything except dental, drugs, and glasses (I think) and some other things for every Canadian. Patient-side healthcare is private, it's just the actual paying of the doctor that's publicly funded)

[Max White]

Yea, as far as 'free' healthcare goes, it isn't actually ever free, but it is much cheaper on average, and frankly more of the cost is covered by people who can afford it while the benefit goes to people who need it.
I'm probably a dirty, lazy socialist by US standards, but it seems that providing the basics of living (Food, health, housing and education) is the best way to build up an economically stable consumer/worker class.

[10ebbor10]

It's not free, but it's far cheaper. Per capita American healthcare is much more expensive and provides far less service.

[GreatJustice]

It's not free, but it's far cheaper. Per capita American healthcare is much more expensive and provides far less service.

It's not free, but it's far cheaper. Per capita American healthcare is much more expensive and provides far less service.

Well, in general, healthcare costs per capita have been shooting up pretty fast even in places with "free" healthcare like Canada (I think it's around 10% of GDP here now?). It's just that they've been massively outpacing inflation in the US ever since the 70s, whereas before American healthcare was no more expensive (and usually better in quality).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The interesting thing is that, in the US, costs have tended to increase drastically whenever it moves closer towards a socialized or semi-socialized system (away from out of pocket spending and towards Medicare, Medicaid, and mandated insurance). It already does have two pretty good examples of fully "socialized" systems in the form of the Indian Health Service and the Veterans Health Administration, so I guess they can be used as models for what American healthcare would look like if it went all the way.

Also, if the Americans change their system too much, rich people from Europe, Canada, etc wouldn't be able to go there when they need treatment, so instead of using their money to go to American hospitals they'd be using their influence to bump themselves up the waiting list at home, which is hardly a good thing for anyone involved.

[Leafsnail]

Well, in general, healthcare costs per capita have been shooting up pretty fast even in places with "free" healthcare like Canada (I think it's around 10% of GDP here now?). It's just that they've been massively outpacing inflation in the US ever since the 70s, whereas before American healthcare was no more expensive (and usually better in quality).

Do you actually not understand that healthcare gets more expensive as more types of treatment are developed?

[Helgoland]

Also, if the Americans change their system too much, rich people from Europe, Canada, etc wouldn't be able to go there when they need treatment, so instead of using their money to go to American hospitals they'd be using their influence to bump themselves up the waiting list at home, which is hardly a good thing for anyone involved.

I do not know a single European who would even consider going to America to get treatment - it may happen in a select few cases where a world-class specialist works in the US, but a) that happens the other way around too and b) it has nothing to do with your friggin health care system. You just pulled a Michelle Bachmann there! The thing the US healthcare system is generally known for in Europe is people selling their houses to afford life-saving surgery and ambulances cruising a city for hours, not being taken by any hospital, because the person in it is uninsured.
/rant, but that was too [redacted].

[mainiac]

The interesting thing is that, in the US, costs have tended to increase drastically whenever it moves closer towards a socialized or semi-socialized system

Please substantiate your extremely dubious proposition or retract it.

[Owlbread]

I've tended to see rich Europeans and Middle-Eastern people coming to Britain for treatment. Seemingly overseas visitors and migrants can make use of the NHS.

[Helgoland]

I've tended to see rich Europeans and Middle-Eastern people coming to Britain for treatment.

Don't you guys have terrible waiting times?
(And, just out of curiosity, what Europeans? Russians, Belgians, Andorrians?)

[mainiac]

I do not know a single European who would even consider going to America to get treatment

Why would these?  Not even Canadians would want to pay way more for treatment they can get faster at home.

It's a myth that arrived because conservatives didn't fact check things that sounded right to their gut.  No basis in truth.