Editorial Overview

Is there a responsibility for the United States government to either provide or ensure Universal Health Care for everyone in America?

Is it socialism to provide or ensure universal health care for all Americans? Is it a moral issue? Is it an issue of national security? Is it too expensive or can it actually save money for the American tax payer? The debate between liberals and conservatives has been extensive, divisive and has lasted for years. In the mean time, more and more Americans go uninsured including millions of children that live at or below the poverty level. How can we bailout Wall Street with $700B (including an additional $140B in pork barrel spending) and not find a small fraction of this cost to extend funding SCHIP and provide for the health of our most vulnerable citizens?

Conservative Response

Conservatives are not going to deny the basic goal: affordable health care for all. But we see the failure of the welfare state to provide it. In communist and socialist nations, everyone is extended the right to health care - to inefficient, low tech, backward, inconvenient health care. And the right to wait and wait and wait. In Ohio today, there are more MRI machines than in all of England. In Cuba there aren't any. Read more...

— Editor

Liberal Response

If our basic view is that government is the necessary entity for ensuring individual rights particularly against the moneyed interests, then health care is our issue. In the old days, there really wasn’t much difference between the prognosis for the wealthy sick and the poor sick. Today it all depends on access and technology, and that depends on money. Today, if you are wealthy you live longer. Read more...

— Editor

Alternative Response

We seem to all agree on the goal: a healthier America. That demands that everyone has access to the incredible medical knowledge base and practitioners in the US today. Some have that already - those served by Medicare. And it is hard to find a Medicare patient who is complaining very much, especially since the problem of prescription drugs was largely solved under President Bush. Read more...

— Editor

Author

Comments

Dave H.
3/1/10

The question not asked was:

"Is Congress authorized by US citizens under the United States Constitution to legislate an individual's decision to buy, or to pay for another person's health insurance?"

Elliot S.
Madison, WI
1/19/10

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane"  - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Does anyone doubt that health care was a major issue for the first year of the Obama Administration? Yet for most people the details are evasive, confusing, divisive, frustrating, elusive and difficult to comprehend.

The national health care reform debate has led to some of the most hateful, selfish, mean spirited, nasty and divisive speech this country has seen in quite a while. People have been hoodwinked or intimidated and some have been totally shut out of the debate completely, as a result.

Few people agree on what health care reform should entail, some would call it a financial drain, some call it communism, some call it a social necessity, and others would call it a moral imperative.

The case for health care might be strongest with the argument that in the present world economy we are unable to compete economically because the public sector is paying for health care coverage, because most of the world has subsidized national health care and we don't. As the argument goes unless government lifts the burden of healthcare from business, we will be unable to compete with companies in subsidized health care nations. Fear and loathing of 'socialized medicine' are leading us to no change. Read more...

NB
11/18/09

The debate over Health Care Reform has been loud, divisive, defined by misinformation and driven by political rhetoric. All this leads to more delays in providing affordable medical coverage to 47 million uninsured Americans.

So what is the solution? Conservatives claim that the private market place is the only way to solve this problem. Yet, the private insurance companies have had years and years to get it right. The insurance industry continues to fail the American people. They excessively increase premiums for individuals and businesses forcing many to drop coverage. They reject claims forcing individuals to fight for their benefits. They deny benefits to individuals with pre-existing conditions. They drop individuals who lose their jobs. Read more...

After years of losses in the courts, gun control opponents have finally won a victory in the Supreme Court. Yet, the court did not make an absolutely clear decision and the impacts of this decision are still being argued between gun control advocates (generally liberal) and opponents (generally conservative). Can there be common ground on Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution?

With the recent Supreme Court decision on gun control in the District of Columbia, the courts have reversed several lower court decisions that the government may impose strict gun controls. However, this decision did not eliminate all gun control laws. The District is now grappling with the consequences. What laws will satisfy both the gun owners who threaten additional law suits and a majority of citizens who want strict gun control to curb violence? What role will the United States Congress take in this process? Can liberals and conservatives find common ground?

If you are interested in submitting essays for either Next Month's Topic or a Future Topic, please read and follow our Rules for Submission.

Abortion is one of the most divisive issues of our time. Can there be a compromise or any agreement on abortion between liberals and conservatives?

There seems to be very little room for debate between the liberal (pro-choice) and the conservative (pro-life) groups in this country. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska praises her daughter's "decision" to have her baby but she wants to deny this decision to all other women including victims of rape and incest in the United States by overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that gave women control over their own reproductive decisions. Several states are already poised to ban abortion in all cases except to protect the life of the mother as soon as the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade. With attacks from religious conservatives on sex education and contraceptives, abortion is once again becoming the only way to address unwanted pregnancies. Can liberals and conservatives have common ground? Do we need to relive the severe impacts to women of anti-abortion laws to understand, once again, the necessity of sex education, of accessible contraceptives and, in some cases, of abortion?

Many American citizens oppose same-sex marriage on religious (biblical) grounds. Others see opposition to gay marriage as discrimination. Is there a clear distinction between liberal and conservative camps on this issue?

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. New Hampshire will allow gay marriage in January, 2010. Gay marriage was legal in California and then it wasn't. The District of Columbia city council is currently expected to pass legislation to allow it. However, opposition to same-sex marriage has brought together some strange bedfellows. Right-wing religious conservatives along with many black church leaders, who tend to lean liberal, have come together to oppose court decisions and legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. On the other side, traditional liberals and some libertarians, also traditionally conservative, oppose any marriage restrictions. It was not long ago that many Americans opposed civil unions and benefits for same-sex couples. This has changed significantly. Do we recognize gay marriage with all its rights and responsibilities or do we pass a Constitutional amendment to ban it? Is there or should there be a compromise between the all or nothing groups?

If you are interested in submitting essays for either Next Month's Topic or a Future Topic, please read and follow our Rules for Submission.

A Civil Disagreement Blog

A Civil Disagreement Blog is a forum for users to discuss national & international politics and social issues. We encourage a lively discussion though we insist that any disagreements remain civilized.

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