Widely Traveled American Rejects Single-Payer: Here's Why

The regressive Left loved to sing the praises of socialized medicine, or single-payer health care.

But the stories that I have heard, plus the research I have conducted, cannot make it clearer that single-payer health care is not good.

Universal health care is neither universal nor health care.

Consider these three examples for more reasons to oppose its implementation in California or anywhere else.

Hi Arthur,

As I said, I lived in Europe (Norway and England)as a teen.  Both had government run healthcare.  I have three stories for you.

1) An American woman living in Norway (Stavanger) fell on the ice one day and broke her arm.  It took so long for her to get care that the arm had healed and they had to break her arm again in order to reset it correctly.

2) Living in England, I became ill.  I was taken to a doctor there but he had no clue what was wrong with me.  It wasn't until about four years later that I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease which had begun while I was in London.

3) A friend and her husband were recently living in Sweden (he was with the embassy there).  She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  They made a date for surgery for SIX months from the diagnosis!  They instead, came back to the States, she had surgery right away and now about two years later is still alive and cancer free.  

Socialized healthcare in a nutshell.  Drives me crazy when people (as I saw someone today saying to you on your live feed) say that we all will get this wonderful FREE care.  The ignorance is astounding.

Thanks for all you are doing! Please keep my name anonymous if you discuss this at all :-)

Kelley

Single-Payer Zealots Getting Rude. Why?

SB 562, the Healthy California Act, has been shelved by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

He had to shelve it, since the Assembly caucus wasn't having any of it. They did not want to put their necks on the line to support a bill with a massive price tag, something which even they could not go along with.

SB 562, the would-be single-payer proposal, was dead on arrival from the state senate, anyway. When three Democrats abstain on a bill, you know it's going to face serious headwinds heading into the state assembly. Normally, the entire state senate votes in lock-step as a block, whether the Democrats or the Republicans, for legislation to go through.

But that did not happen this time.

Instead of subjecting himself and the Democratic caucus to further embarrassment and the wrath of the hateful labor unions, Rendon chose to throw himself on the grenade and stop SB 562.

Of course, the progressives who are taking over the California Democratic Party are having none of this. More of them are fleeing the Democratic Party because of the rampant corruption and resistance to their radical agenda.

Check out what I had to confront in front of Speaker Anthony Rendon's office in South Gate:

At this event, I was followed around by a member of the nurses' union. 

Some of the people at the event cursed at me. In one brief instance, I feared for my safety. At least a fellow Trump supporter showed up and had my back for the greater part of my time at the protest.

There was this one guy named Andrew Boulet.

"You're an asshole!"

His comments about single-payer opponents really offended and saddened me:

"Let me tell you the people who don't want single payer:

1. Health insurance companies

2. People paid by health insurance companies

3. Assholes"

Yes, he called opponents "assholes" for not agreeing with him.

I didn't know who he was at the time, when I received an email from this Andrew Boulet person, who wanted to discuss single-payer health care with me.

Then I met him in person, and I called him out on calling opponents of single-payer "assholes." Honestly, if someone cannot have a decent conversation with you on substantive issues like health care, it's crystal clear that they are not invested in policy discussion as much as raw politicking. When I confronted him on the personal slights, he laughed me off and said "OK, I see that your feelings are hurt ...."

But that's not the point. The issue is the condescension coming from someone who does not agree with you colors the debate in a terrible way. It's just not right. We need to be able to have a real exchange of ideas without labeling the opponent as "racist" or "hateful" or something else.

This will not work out for the better. I don't believe in attacking people personally just because they disagree with me on something--on anything!

I am still trying to get ideas as to why men and women still support single-payer health care, so ...

I attended a single-payer discussion seminar in Culver City.

The leader of the meeting welcomed me, and I sat in the back. Maureen Cruise actually invited me to share views on issues. She allowed me to ask questions, too.

At the end of the meeting, I spoke with two people about the whole government medicine proposal.

The first one began accusing me of wanting to let thousands of people die.

Then another guy shamed me by claiming I wanted to see 20,000 people dead in order to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

I did not let that guy get away with it, though:

and then

So, why are some single-payer zealots becoming rude?

I fear it has a great deal to do with the fact that more people are paying attention, and they are challenging the bare assumptions of government-run or government-funded medicine. As the whole program is getting closer to becoming a reality, men and women are learning more about it--and a lot of it is bad.

Let's take steps to have real health care reform. Not through more subsidies and government interventions, but relying on limited yet necessary and proper government norms, framed within the fundamental laws of supply, demand, and natural resources.

Make Health Care Canadian Again? Long Wait Times Getting ... LONGER!

No, I do not want socialized medicine.

I say NO! to single-payer health care.

No way.

Here is one clear reason why.

Check out this link, and the report attending it:

The Canadian Health Care System loves to bill itself as free and available.

But it isn't.

In fact, Canadians pay higher taxes on  ... everything.

They also get very little for what they pay for through these redistributionist schemes.

Check out what Steve Crowder faced when he went undercover into the Canadian health care system:

More exposure to come.

Say no to single-payer health care!

Commie-fornia Democrats Hit a Wall on Single-Payer

There is so much winning for taxpayers, concerned citizens, and conservatives in general in the state of California. The slow but steady victories in this blue bastion of progressive insanity should raise hope for all of us. After all, the Left loves to gloat that what happens in California is most likely to pop up all over the United States.

They might want to change their minds.

First, an assemblyman in Commie East Bay Alameda County attempted to allow Communists to serve openly in our government. The South Vietnamese Community in Orange County and veterans throughout the state hammered this liberal nut. His bill to “update archaic language in the state code” died after getting a bare majority in the Assembly. Besides, the legislature is full of communists anyway. They just need to be voted out.

Then the infamous state senator who removed an exemption from forced school vaccinations tried to push a state-based resolution of children’s rights. This bill was really a subversive attack on parental rights. His proposal would invite more government intervention into the home. The proposal crashed and burned.

And now for the latest good news, and everyone needs to know about it. Single payer is dead in California—for now.

In spite of their strongest attempts, the two openly-gay, openly abusive and liberal state senators Ricardo Lara and Toni Atkins will not enact a single-payer system in California. Keep in mind that previous California legislatures had advanced single-payer to the Governor’s desk in years past.

The projected program would have expanded Medicare to every Californian (and the illegal aliens, too.) The projected cost reached $400 billion, but the cost of anything has never deterred the Bernie-crat progressives who have taken over the California Democratic Party, even if their new chairman is a corrupt crony who pays lip-service to progressive goals. All over the state, especially in the town halls I have attended—not crashed!—incessantly aggressive progressives were demanding single-payer health care—at all costs. Senator Dianne Feinstein says no, but the ultra-liberal Congressional representatives like Brad Sherman and Ted Lieu said “Yes!” The grassroots want socialized medicine. The progressive special interests and community activists want it, too. But guess what? The grand scheme to socialize health care in the state of California has been put into a coma.

I was genuinely surprised. Liberal, regressive proposals have been dying off in other otherwise Democratic strongholds. Hawaii and Maryland rejected assisted suicide bills, but California passed one, with Republican support. California tends to go all-in for these liberal schemes, but even they had to face facts. And their failure is not a singular one. Other states had flirted with socialized medicine, only to back away because of the exorbitant cost. Vermont had a Democratic trifecta three years ago, and former Governor “Putney” Pete Shumlin determined that his state would switch from Green Mountain Obamacare to Universal Healthcare. The tax burden proved too great, even for Democrats. They couldn’t afford it. Same was true for Rhode Island.

And then there’s California, where the state steals money from current and future generations to pay off over-generous pensions for the previous generations. They also spend money they don’t have protecting illegal aliens while leaving American citizens unsafe and uncared for. Sacramento lawmakers can’t even fix the roads. How could they ever manage healthcare, too? Even in California, regressive leftists are learning the limits, and even they must heed the stern advice of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to her collectivist, redistributionist opponents: “The problem with socialism is that the government ends up running out of other people’s money.”

Besides, Californians already voted to prevent government encroachment into medicine. Proposition 63 would have imposed price controls on pharmaceuticals, making a bad situation worse. Despite Bernie Sanders’ backing and lots of union money, Big Pharma and other business interests pushed back, and voters said “No!” They also oppose single-payer—even if it passed the state Senate. The state Assembly had no appetite to take the bill. Interestingly enough, Governor Jerry Brown was prepared to veto the medical monstrosity, too.

So, Speaker Anthony Rendon finagled to protect his peers from the wrath of the nurses’ union and keep the Democratic base happy. How? After all, he can’t say “I do whatever Big Business tells me to.” Instead, he blamed Donald Trump and the Republicans. “They’re going to repeal Obamacare. We need the federal funding through that program to fund our single-payer system.” Great politics, and it works for all of us who earn money and know how to count, too. He also placed blame on the state Senate. “They passed a bill that is incomplete.” WHAT? Yes, this insouciant incompetence is commonplace in Sacramento—and with the Democratic Party as a whole. Then Rendon bolsters the base once again: “We will reconsider the proposal at the next legislative session.”

Sure you will, Tony.

Actually, the Democratic legislature won’t try again. The $400 billion price-tag nearly rivals the looming pension liabilities. No matter how profligate they are, the Democrats have to budget for it. Certain issues matter, like “Who will pay for this? How?” Whether they like Trump or not, the California Democrats’ healthcare proposal depends on federal assistance for money and legal waivers. So much for The Resistance, right? Not only that but major tax increases and policy shifts would require an up and down vote from the voters. California voters are taxed too much already. They already rejected Prop 63. Did they think that a $400 billion tax increase (which nearly rivals the pension liabilities eating the state budget).

Why should the country rejoice about this latest Democratic defeat? Single-payer fantasies are the hill that Democratic trifectas die on. Obama and the Democratic Congress wanted a public option in 2009. They gave us Obamacare, then Republicans retook the House. Vermont has a Republican governor now, and the Democrats do not have a supermajority.

This one-year breather gives me pause, peace, and hope. Even in deeply self-destructive Democratic California, conservatives can celebrate a victory.

CA Dem State Party Chair Candidate "Bernie" Bauman: Single-Payer All the Way (Really, I Mean It!)

The openly gay, supposedly Jewish liberal-crony Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman wants to assure all the Berned California Democratic Party delegates that he is on board for the socializing of our health care system in the state of California.

At first, I would have believed that he was opposed to single-payer health care, since every major crony business interest has funded him and the rest of the Democratic Party of Los Angeles County.

Now that he's facing a strong challenge from the Left (yes, even the California Democratic Party has a left-leaning flank to contend with), Bauman is tripping all over himself to pretend to be the next Bernie Sanders.

Here's the latest eblast he sent out:

Delegates --

As we all know, in campaign season, the accusations and attacks ramp up as we get closer to Election Day.

The newest whopper (John Burton would call it something more colorful, but you get the picture) being spread around is that I'm somehow not wholeheartedly supporting SB 562.

So let's go ahead and tell some of those hard truths...

HARD TRUTH: I supported SB 562 before the bill was even assigned a number, as I laid out months ago in my op-ed,

"Make California a Healthcare Sanctuary State."

But let's be real. An op-ed in election season isn't enough.

HARD TRUTH: Both authors of SB 562, Senators Toni Atkins and Ricardo Lara, have endorsed my campaign for Chair because they know passing single-payer isn't just an election season talking point for me. We need the experience, grit, and know-how to get this job done.

My name is Bernie Sanders, er Bauman!

But let's be real. The fight for single-payer didn't start during this Chair's race.

HARD TRUTH: I've been fighting to make universal single-payer healthcare available for DECADES. It's the reason why I became politically engaged so many years ago, based on my experience as a registered nurse. I worked with then-Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to pass universal healthcare which was then vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson. I was in the foxhole with then-Senator Sheila Kuehl when Democrats passed single-payer TWICE, only to have Gov. Schwarzenegger veto it both times. And I was with then-Senator Mark Leno as he tried to make it happen, yet again.

"Universal single-payer". Really.

So it's not just single-payer healthcare, but it's universal. Bernie Bauman really wants you to believe that he is in the long held to push health care into the government's hands once and for all.

He means it!

But let's be real. TALK IS CHEAP. Trust the single-payer fighters with the battle scars to prove it.

HARD TRUTH: Every single author of universal/single-payer healthcare legislation in our state's history -- John Garamendi, Sheila Kuehl, Mark Leno, Toni Atkins, and Ricardo Lara -- are ALL supporting my campaign to lead our Party.

Wow, to see Democratic Party leaders go at it, that's just sick and sad. He is playing the same endorsement game as though the support from key Democratic leaders equals that they share the same views as those endorsing them.

That's simply true.

Let's be real. They're standing with me because I've stood with them over the years doing the real work to make single-payer a reality.

You have stood with crony corporate interests, buddy. We all know that you are just another plugged-in corporate shill.

And you are against everything that you claim  to hold dear according to your Jewish faith.

This man is godless and evil. He denies natural marriage, and believes it's OK to teach men, women, and children that they can jump into sexual anarchy without consequences. 

You have no faith but in the state.

"Bernie Bauman" is a total fraud.

I hope you'll join them because, with SB 562, single-payer is in reach. This is our chance to finish the job for all of those who've come so close in the past, and most importantly, for the millions of Californians who deserve affordable, high-quality healthcare.

Actually, it isn't. In fact, the speaker of the State Assembly has hedged his bets, and says that single-payer isn't going to happen.

Single-payer's time is here!

Eric C. Bauman

Vice Chair, California Democratic Party

Chair, Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Final Reflection

The Democratic Party is turning into California's Left-wing progressivism. Here the Democratic Party will live or die.

It will either survive or take a dive.

I hope that it takes a dive, and for good.

When people see California crash and burn, let's hope the rest of the Democratic Party across the country will die, too. They have become completely communistic. They have a set of values that are not really values. They want to undermine the rule of law, the laws of nature, and the authority of Nature's God.

If we want to see the American experiment grow and thrive, we need to see the Democratic Party diminish and disappear.

Obamacare (and Single-Payer) Can Go Straight to Hell

It was September 2013. Obamacare was coming in full force. The law was written in such a way that if the program failed, it would not jeopardize Obama’s re-election bid.

Democrats sponsored town halls to prepare constituents for the health insurance exchanges in their states, or on the federal exchange if that state had opted out. Covered California was advertised as the gold standard for state exchanges.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters stepped up as one of its most vocal promoters. She hosted a town hall in St. John the Evangelist Church in Gardena, CA, hoping that she would whip up sentiment among the poor, impoverished black and Hispanics communities to buy into the Affordable Care Act. And yes, she represents a large portion of Torrance, too. Ugh!

Left-wing activists showed up to denounce any military action in Syria. Great. But when it came to health care, I asked attendees how the government planned on paying for all of this? Kaiser Permanente refused to participate in the Obamacare exchanges. Tennessee had experimented with a similar government-run healthcare program, which was dead on arrival. I proceeded to list the numerous failures associated with any government-run health care system. I got a lot of puzzled looks or outright hostility.

Rep. Waters danced through a two-hour numbers show, then opened the floor to public comment. A long line of dissenters signaled their displeasure. A janitor for Los Angeles Unified asked why his hours were cut, but illegal aliens were getting free health care. Another woman, who had driven all the way from Studio City, announced that the death panels were in the bill, to everyone’s shock (except me and a few others).

I told her that health insurance premiums were skyrocketing all over the country. Doctors were fleeing the medical profession. The regulatory burdens forced on private physicians was also pushing them out of business. Then I fired at her: “Obamacare can go straight to hell!” mocking her derisive tirade against the Tea Party movement in 2011, the first time that Waters faced blowback for her incendiary, abusive comments. I should have denounced any form of government intrusion into health care beyond enforcement of contract and prosecution for criminal behavior.

This national attempt was doomed from the start. Precursor programs had already failed. Massachusetts had implemented the first Obamacare-style program under Mitt Romney. The costs have spiraled upwards since then. Health insurance is not the sure-fire cover that Bay State residents hoped for. Upscale Boston residents still struggle to find a family physician.

In 2014, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin wanted to implement a single-payer system for the Green Mountain State. The whole program fizzled before it started. Democratic lawmakers in Montpelier balked at the price tag. As if this quasi-communist enclave north of New York needed another tax driving out the diminishing youthful, entrepreneurial class, along with middle class homeowners and senior citizens. Rhode Island flirted with a single-payer system, too; but by then the Ocean State lawmakers wanted to end their own Obamacare state exchange. Brief reminder: the above states were Democratic trifectas.

Today, state exchanges are failing nationwide. The cost overruns are hideous. Other blue states like Oregon and Maryland have already shut down their state exchanges. The horror stories in California have also confirmed the dismal failure of Covered California, the supposed golden standard bearer. Obamacare is already going to hell.

Yet here in my overtaxed, impoverished state, the same lawmaker who champions illegal aliens at the expense (morally and financially) of law-abiding citizens is planning to ushed California into a single-payer model.

Really.

I cannot believe this. We the citizens of the United States must still debunk government-run health care. President George W. Bush debated this issue to a standstill: “Single-Payer health care is bad health care.”

Townhall just published an exposé of the unconscionable waiting times in Canada. Check out Steve Crowder’s video to find out what Canada’s “guaranteed health care” looks like, too.

It’s hell.

But the Democratic Party, which built itself on slavery to the state and socialism as its creed, has been fighting for government-run health care since the Truman Administration. Democrats are already in diminished disarray, but this single-payer fantasy endures. Why? It’s a sad testimony to conservatives’ failure of messaging and engagement. Yes, we need to outline the needs for market-based medicine, and to expose the corrupt destructive elements of single-payer health systems, a.k.a socialized medicine.

Yet we are too nice when discussing the faults, failures, and pure moral failings of this universal disaster. Socialism kills, people. It leads to unsanitary hospitals, stagnant innovations, personnel shortages, and forced hospices. Republicans need to pummel (politically) anyone who pushes maintenance of Obamacare, or an expansion of state control into medicine. Organizing for Action has reassembled precisely to defend Obamacare? One problem: it’s indefensible. There is no common ground anymore!

We should start fighting against it on those grounds, rather than resting on repeated arguments based on facts, logic, and proof. We have all of that. Now we need to harness political power for long-standing, free market reforms.

Shame on any Republican who offers a bill keeping Obamacare exchanges in states. All of us would still have to pay for that!  We need a full repeal of this law. It will be hell for us if we don’t. If it takes a Republican supermajority in the US Senate to ensure a complete repeal, so be it.

In the meantime, Republicans can enact clear reforms independent of repeal:

1. Permission to purchase health insurance across state lines.

2. Repeal all mandates—All of them!

3. Allow doctors to form co-ops.

4. Allow consumers to form their own insurance risk pools.

5. Enact tax credits for health savings accounts

6. Removing the arbitrary cap on the number of doctors who seek medical degrees.

7. Get rid of the useless statewide licensure process.

Bold reforms require bold political action. What are the politicians waiting for? It’s time for all Americans to shout at Washington DC:

“Obamacare can go straight to hell!”