· “Besides attacking the law he was prosecuted under, Craig’s legal team argues that the hand signal allegedly used to communicate a desire to engage in sexual conduct would be constitutionally protected speech.”--Associated Press, 1/8/08

Shortly after news of his arrest became public, Craig said he would resign from the Senate; then said he wouldn’t resign; then he said he was still planning to resign--soon. Craig now says he will serve out his Senate term. Even though he may have gone both ways about resigning, there is one thing you can be sure about Senator Larry Craig (R-ID)--he is not gay and never has been gay.

******

Most Americans realize that there is something wrong with the health care system in the United States--a few don’t:

· “The reality is that, with all of its infirmities and difficulties, we have the best health care system in the world.” Rudy Giuliani, Republican presidential candidate and self-proclaimed 9/11 hero, (1/5/08)

· “[W]e have fabulous health care in America… before people start griping about the health care system here — and of course there’s always grounds for complaint — just to compare it with other systems around the world.”--George W. Bush, 12/17/07

Okay:

In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) compared the health care systems in 191 countries. France ranked number one. The U.S. ranked number 37, despite spending a higher percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care than any other country.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a report that ranked the United States as the “worst among 19 [industrialized] countries in the number of deaths that could have been prevented through better access to timely and effective health care.” (The Progress Report, 1/8/08)

The report said that if the United States health care system worked as well as the top three nations: France, Japan and Australia (which all have government funded health care systems), there would have been over 100,000 fewer deaths in the U.S. each year. Researcher, Ellen Nolte, suggested that the “large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance ...probably was a key factor” in the low ranking.

There are plenty more examples. Can we complain now?

The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not have universal health, even though it spends more per capita for health care than any other country. Forty seven million Americans have no health care coverage, and millions more pay high prices for inadequate coverage.

All the Democratic presidential candidates acknowledge the problem and promise to fix it (if elected). Republicans think the U.S. health care system is great, but promise to fix it (if elected). Republicans seem to believe that all the problems in our health care system can be fixed by the current profit-driven system (because it has done such a great job so far).

· “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”--Compassionate conservative spokesman Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol, 1843

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