Open Thread

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: socialized medicine under Obama and Clinton (paragraph break removed):

Among the sharpest policy disputes between Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is whether all Americans should be required to get health insurance, as Sen. Clinton proposes. She has said repeatedly that her plan is the only one that would cover everyone...Now, after months on the defense, Sen. Obama is hitting back by emphasizing the downside of her policy: mandating insurance means penalties for those who fail to get it. His policy requires parents to insure their children, with penalties for those who don't, but his mandate is much less sweeping than the one proposed by Mrs. Clinton, which affects all Americans.

Hillary's plan is estimated to cost $110 billion a year; not sure about Obama's. Regardless, are we really heading down this path if Hillary or Obama win the White House? What will the actual cost of such a program be? How high will the taxes of working Americans have to go to fund such a program, and how much a hit will the economy take as a result? Finally, if this really happens, are we heading back down the path to socialism that Reagan got us off of in 1981 signaling the beginning of the end of capitalism and democracy in this nation.