A famous actor comes out against "socialized" medicine

[tazber]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 8:20am

Uh-oh!

Updated On: 11/5/09 at 08:20 AM

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 8:27am

HAHAHA! The scary twilight zone music is classic!

[bschneid76]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 8:38am

*SCREAMS*

[romantico]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 8:58am

AM I the only one who thinks Socialism is good? I mean, If France is considered Socialist because they have excellent health care which is better than ours,how is this bad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNR_6UuVl4s

Ronald Reagan was taking money from the insurance companies back then when he made this record.McCarthyism and Communism were very effective scare tactics. Sad to say, there are those who are still buying the right wing crap today. The tea party thugs are just one example.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 9:20am

I filled out 40 pages of paperwork, $60 and surrendered my passport to become a socialist. I should know something soon. :)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 9:53am

"AM I the only one who thinks Socialism is good?"

I don't think you've thought through all that is involved in socialism.

The government controls the money. For example, in the UK, the hospitals have to ask the government for the money to run their healthcare. So the government portions out 1 million dollars (pounds). When that is used up, they have to wait for the government to hand out the next million. The US government has shown over the years that they can't get together on a healthcare bill. In addition, spending is always a mess for Congress. Do you really trust the US government to hand the money over to hospitals and doctors in a timely manner? Do you want to be lying around waiting for an operation while the Republicans and Democrats fight about what state gets the money and when and who is going to pay for it?

[romantico]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 10:02am

Anyone else? Goth, you have zero credibility here when it comes to politics so you preaching to me about socialism is a joke.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 10:19am

So the death rate soared in the UK with socialized medicine (from people dying on gurneys waiting for Parliament to okay funds)?

I hadn't heard.

[romantico]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 10:23am

More than likely Goth's source is Glen Beck, Sean Hanity or Michelle Bachman.

Posted: 11/5/09 at 11:04am

What you need to remember is the "Socialized medicine" that Bonzo is warning us against here is MEDICARE. We've lived with Medicare for over 40 years- no doctors have been forced to move, no one has had to share spoons when they eat soup. It's just another item on the long long long long long list of things Ronnie was dead wrong about.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 11:22am

I don't think you've thought through all that is involved in socialism.

Or perhaps you aren't as closely tied to socialized health care as those who have actually used it. My father-in-law is living proof that it works in Spain. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was told by his doctor that he would have to wait a couple of weeks for the MRI unless he went to the ER. Dementia set in rapidly and he went to the ER a couple of days later and was given a very grim prognosis. Chemo started immediately and his symptoms were alleviated. Months later, he successfully completed radio. All at no out-of-pocket expenses. I was able to visit him in the spring and look forward to seeing him again soon. He's battled leukemia for decades and the socialized health care in Spain has successfully treated him time and again and given him a long full life including the opportunity to visit his new grandchildren without the outrageous medical bills and rising premiums from greedy insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Of course, this is contingent on a government actually wisely running a health care system.

But I will agree with you on one thing. If our government has had so little interest in the health of its citizens by supporting the actions of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies for such a long time, I have little faith they would take our interests at heart when faced with a socialized health care plan. If forced, they will drag their feet to do as little as possible.

Updated On: 11/5/09 at 11:22 AM

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 11:46am

That Dharma & Greg dude used to be a doctor back in the 50s? He's aged very well!

Posted: 11/5/09 at 12:32pm

I had to watch this clip a half-dozen times. They (The you-tube poster) apparently think this will convince people "Obamacare" is bad. They are completely oblivious to the fact that Reagan comes off like a moron and the whole thing is ridiculous. And you wonder how "Reefer Madness" was ever taken seriously....

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 2:33pm

He made a record railing against 'socialized' medicine, but did nothing about AIDS.

Pick and choose?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 3:07pm

romantico, I think socialism is a really good idea, but I don't think it's perfect. I think socialized medicine would be a helluva lot better than the mess we have now though. I took a sociology of health care class in college and it was just depressing looking at the differences between the US and countries with socialized medicine. Not to mention analyzing the disparities in life expectancy among different racial groups in the US.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 3:15pm

I had to watch this clip a half-dozen times. They (The you-tube poster) apparently think this will convince people "Obamacare" is bad. They are completely oblivious to the fact that Reagan comes off like a moron and the whole thing is ridiculous. And you wonder how "Reefer Madness" was ever taken seriously....


I know!

[Scripps2]

Posted: 11/5/09 at 5:43pm

"I don't think you've thought through all that is involved in socialism."

But what you then describe, Goth, isn't socialism. The British government puts its NHS budget into areas that either have influential MPs or areas that are to be targeted in elections. As soon as the government changes funds get channelled into different areas. Hence the NHS being referred to as a "political football" and the quality of service as a "postcode lottery".

That isn't a failing of socialism: that's a failing of democracy.

What the British electorate are undoubtedly proud of (and I write as one of a tiny minority who would like to see the NHS scrapped) is the absolute moral principle upon which the NHS was founded. Namely that everyone has a fundamental right to free quality healthcare. And no British politician (red, yellow or blue flavour) would dare suggest otherwise.