more politicking: Kerry's speech transcript

[anotheranon]

The really firey one from last week in Springfield OH, for ragdoll and other interested parties: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0902.html.

Comments

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I think most non-Americans find it odd. My guess is that a lot of it comes down to the leftover Puritan ideology that if you don't work and contribute, you don't deserve health care :( Unfortunately this fails to take note of the importance of public health (if your neighbor gets his vaccinations, he won't be coughing all over the neighborhood to make you sick), or the fact that more and more Americans are working and still getting inadequate health insurance, or none at all.

Laurie Garret wrote a book (http://www.lauriegarrett.com/index_betrayal.html) about the breakdown of global public health. I've not read it (yet), but want to (really regret missing her talk at work when it came out - I was, er, working :/). Though the scope is international, I think some of the talking points may well point to the current state of public health in the U.S.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Well, you've just made ME thankful that Puritans had nothing to do with the founding of MY country ***grin***

Most national plans still demand some form of contribution (Canada's do, at least), but when EVERYBODY contributes, the price is pretty reasonable ($44.00 per month for a single adult in Alberta).