If we pretty much concede to mandatory insurance on our homes and cars why then is it so hard to accept mandatory health insurance?

Who pays?  Car and house are insured at owners' expense.  Both are expensive but managable.  Health insurance is almost priced out of the range of middle class income.  It is only through employer contribution that most working families can afford it.  If it becomes mandatory, why would employers continue to help pay for it?  They don't help with the car or the house.

In free trade is it really no concern of ours to insist that underdeveloped countries strive for decent living wages for laborers who manufacture products for us?

Do we have a right to demand a pay raise for the teenager who flips our burgers?  the clerk who checks us out at Safeway?  By attempting to "improve" the lives of kids who make sneakers in third world countries, we threaten what little they have. I don't condone, merely observing.

As for the rest, I pretty much agree.

 

If the home is paid off, you’re not required to have insurance. It's the lenders that require insurance. I think a lot of people found out in New Orleans that not having insurance pays, the good old US taxpayer will bail you out. With personal health insurance, the payer gets the benefit (i.e. something for their money), either through payout or at least piece of mind. With universal health all taxpayers take the lost because someone that don't put into the kitty is going to use the benefit. What I don't understand is why if so many want universal healthcare aren't those people pooling their money and providing it now on their own, without government involvement. Can it be that it's because the majority of people that want it, don't want to pay or can't pay. And those that can, do they just want to take more of the tax payers money to support their own agenda? I see a lot of rich actors behind this, but I never here about them giving up their life styles and paychecks to support their socialist ideals.

I'm in full agreement with the boarder’s issue you mentioned. This weekend there was a protest in Iowa because 400 illegal’s were picked up from a small town, Postville. Unbelievable, to me, they might just as well have been protesting the unfair treatment of murders and rapists, it's sickening. What is so hard to understand about the word "illegal"? I have no problem with legal immigration. My wife falls into this category. Why should I have had to pay thousands of dollars and wait 18 months, when all somebody has to do it cross the border and enjoy the benefits. Well, it's because I don't mind paying my share or waiting my turn, some people do. If not from a weakening of the infrastructure, then all citizens should at least be outraged from a national security perspective.

Insurance on Cars and Houses is NOT mandatory. You do not have to carry it. You carry it, like Helath insurance for peace of mind. Or, as is almost always the case, because the co-owner - the bank - insists upon it.

So - the people who are going to pay for the insurance, do they now "own" the people who are not going to pay? I thought we did away with slavery 140 years ago.

That is true in the case of Home owners insurance but in the case of car insurance it depends on the state that you live in. WV requires all drivers be insured. You have to provide proof of insurance to register your car with the state.

That said I don't think that universal healthcare is the answer to our healthcare problems. Just look at how well the government runs the public educations system for how well they would run our healthcare system. It would be trashed in a matter of a couple years. What we need is healthcare reform, possibly involving some extra government regulation, for example put a minimum set of coverage that an insurance company must provide as well as a way to assist some of the lower income folks to afford some form of healthcare. But universal healthcare is definitely not the answer.

As for the issue of infrastructure, I couldn't agree more. One of the basic services that our government should be providing is a roadway system that is up to par. We should not be sending billions of dollars in overseas assistance when we can't even keep our own roadways and bridges maintained. And to be honest that "economic stimulus" check that we all received this year was a joke, they should have taken that $170 Billon and invested in our infrastructure. That would have created jobs and improved our roadways, all of which would have stimulated our economy more than a $600 check. What a waste.

If you don't have car insurance you can self insure with the state. An option most can't afford.

Simply because everyone having Auto Insurance is a 2+2=5 benefit. When all drivers have insurance, no individual must fret about paying for the others care after an accident. Therefore, premiums are lower for all involved, and insurance companies are able to pay out more in repairs because of the larger customer base, a win-win for all involved.

However, both Homeowner's Insurance and Medical Insurance benefit the individual. If you can't rebuild your house after it burns down, or can't afford that heart surgery, it doesn't help or hurt me. So while Auto Insurance is mandatory just about everywhere, home Insurance isn't required in every state, and Health Insurance is left to the individual in most states.

Mandating health insurance is a "Government knows best" action, while Auto Insurance is a "Everyone pitch in a build a new road through town" action, where everyone will benefit more if everyone pitches in.

Does the government know best? Well, you'll say, "Only if a Democrat is running it," I'll bet

Car Inusrance is not mandatory. I never said "driver" insurance was not. And since driving is not a right, but a privelege, the government can tax it as they see fit. However, Life is a right, and therefore a tax (mandatory health care) on it is unconstitutional.

Very good point. How do you opt out of mandatory medical insurance? By committing suicide? LOL

Good point--bravado can be dangerous. Having health insurance while climbing Everest won't help much if your appendix bursts either. In general terms those who have no insurance are confident that ER will not turn them down. It would be nice if we all shared in the costs. Employers don't "give" med. ins. it's all part of your labor costs. If we had universal coverage employers get a free ride but wages would appropriately rise.  

Bravo!!  

Just ask Benny Lopez.