<p>For the record, no one is claiming it would be free healthcare. What it would be is universal so that everyone would have access to it. Of course it would be paid for in the form of taxes, just like our fire departments and police departments are. But if your employer didn't have to pay for your insurance policy, if that money went to your salary it would, according to analysts, more than pay for the increase in taxes. That's assuming we do it right and get the insurance companies out. According to the World Health Organization, we pay more per capita for health care than the majority of countries with national health systems. And it's not that our medicine is better than that of England, or France, or Italy, or Germany, or any of the Scandinavian countries. Our life expectancy is less (as is our healthy life expectancy), and our infant mortality is higher. Not to mention that all of the above countries have a higher patient satisfaction that patients in the US according to most polls.</p>
<p>I'm very surprised Michael Moore's movie Sicko has as little impact as it did. Sure, it was a bit sensationalist, but Inconvenient Truth got a lot more people talking about an issue admittedly farther in the future. </p>
<p>i want a candidate who will not totally pull out of iraq, is socially liberal, respect environment, and will achieve some degree of healthcare reform. right now that bets on hillary clinton. i like obama but doon't think he's experienced enough. while i'm all for helping the poor, i'm not sure john edwards is the right guy for the job but i would vote for him if he made it to the general election. joe biden's also a good guy, my mom actually met him one time.
pretty much any democrat- all the republicans are catering to the religious right except maybe giuliani, but i don't think giuliani will make it to the general election. my worst fear is if brownback,mccain, or mitt romney become president. brownback is just scary. mccain and romney have their fair share of accomplishments but they cater to the social conservatives too much.</p>
<p>Ron Paul, the choice is obvious. Biden would be an ok choice also. Lieberman would be up there in my choices if he was running. It's a shame that no one has spoken out against this AGW crap that comes out of every media outlet though....plus this talk of crazy gas taxes is a little weird. There are even people who are wanting to ration the amount of fossil fuel some businesses can use! Cap and trade is the label that they put on it I think...</p>
<p>mccain... if he can keep his campaign alive and win some primaries... otherwise giuliani... obama has no experience, and he flashed it when he said he would invade pakistan and hunt down terrorists... honestly does he not know he offended one of our few allies in that part of the world... he has no experience whatsoever. hillary is a ho, if a woman is going to be president it should be someone besides her. justa question i noticed Tony Montana is from pittsburgh and supports ron paul. i was just at carnegie mellon last weekend and saw tons of posters for paul. why is he so popular in the steel city, a place and state where the politics have been dominated by democrats who support unions? honestly ron paul (who is from tx) makes me hugely embarrassed to be from there(not unlike a certain man who occupies the white house currently and i'm praying will not screw the election for the republicans with his dumba** mouth). ron paul is a complete idiot as evidenced when he thought that "9/11 was somewhat deserved" by the US. the man is a crackpot and i'm extremely surprised he is still running.</p>
<p>actually I am not from PA but I do go to carnegie mellon - I have never seen a ron paul poster there as I do not attend school during the summer</p>
<p>as far as him being a crackpot I would disagree, he has been misquoted and had statements exaggerated many times by the media though.</p>
<p>oh and if he said 9/11 was deserved he might have ment that meddling in middle east affairs might have been a catalyst FOR 9/11, an idea that osama himself has proclaimed (but Fox News and/or CNN didn't see fit to mention that!)</p>
<p>but you could go on with your theory that he is just another crackpot medical doctor congressmember that hates america</p>
<p>meanwhile a man that has said that people want to be told what to do and don't know what is good for them is one of your top choices :( this poor country...</p>
<p>Nah his post is full of idiocy don't let him bother you Tony Montana. I don't support Ron Paul but he is not an idiot, but that's ok it's clear he just listens to the political tabloids and not the truth.</p>
<p>I find it really interesting that almost everyone does this...says "hillary is a ho". <strong><em>. That's not a political argument. I constantly c ppl putting out great points about other candidates and why they won't vote for them. Then they just insult Clinton without a single political point. It's really sad to me how many times I've heard "Shes a B!tch" Me: "What are her political points you dislike" "Shes just a </em></strong><em>...I donno". That's *</em>*ing sexism and bull. Close-minded people...can't even come up with a legit point not to nominate her.</p>
<p>I'll probably decide in early fall 2008... the only thing I've done so far is rule out Obama and the 2nd Clinton. Anyone else still has a chance for my vote.</p>
<p>I'm an old left democrat, I like Edwards, Dennis K, and to a lesser extent Obama (though im a big fan of his books, and like his personality)</p>
<p>I would not vote for/hold my nose and vote for</p>
<p>Clinton, Richardson, Biden (he is smart and would be a good sec. of state)</p>
<p>Dodd I'm sure would be capable, but Edwards is the most progressive dude with a chance, plus he already laid out very detailed plans on how he will combat poverty, and implement health-care reform that the American people can digest.</p>
<p>Out of the Republicans, I like Huckabee, hes a populist too, and doesn't represent that overtly pro-business, greed is good dominant faction of the Republican party.</p>
<p>At first I wasn't sure about Ron Paul, but I'm starting to like him more and more...
The only republican I like is Giuliani (for the whole pro-choice bit); I do NOT like Clinton, and I know almost nothing about Obama...
But as I said, as I see the Rep's vs. Dem's heat up, Ron Paul is starting to look like the lesser of a whole lot of evils.</p>
<p>Ron Paul isnt a real libertarian, hes pro-life, Guilani is pro-choice, but will appoint pro-life judges, so what is the point of him being personally pro-choice.</p>
<p>Oh and if your so gung-ho about the Iraq war, you seriously need to enlist, we need more boots on the ground, and your young and can replace one of the majority of troops, and the vast majority of Americans that see this war as unjust and counter-productive.</p>
<p>Ron Paul for me is the Republican I like the least. At least with Bush we had some sensible Immigration Policy attempts, and sensible attempts at Education reform, Ron Paul wants a system based on non-cooperation and rampant competition, where we should be moving back towards a social democratic model, one with universal health care, the eradication of poverty etc, what's the point of being the richest country on earth if the middle class is being destroyed and our standard of living is less than European nations?</p>