Well, more to the point, when I had Blue Cross, it was the only option offered by the job I had at the time.  But you are kind of correct - if I had had the choice, I would have chosen the other one that I had later. 

But then we get to more sticky areas - for some people, yes, they do have money to spend on cable and stuff, but sometimes, especially in the lower job levels, you don't make enough for anything extra, and you take the cheapest plan so that you can afford to buy ramen noodles and mac n cheese enough to eat at least once a day, not once every other day.  That was the situation I was in when I lived in Seattle - I was working a job and was at the poorest state I've been in in my adult life.  I had no extra money for any fun things - I was working full time and still going to food banks and soup kitchens to eat.  I managed to get by and now, 7 years later, I'm doing fine, make plenty of money, have good health care, so things worked out, but at the time, things were not so easy, and I fully understand that while, yes, there are some irresponsible people out there, there are a lot of people who are working as hard as they can and not making it though no fault of their own.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying these people should be given any sort of hand-out, but I'm saying it's unfair to lump them in with the welfare cheats and irresponsible people.  If we can change the infastructure, if we can do something about how health care coverage is managed, to help the poorest of us, then all of us will succeed.

Wow, Mike, we actually seem to agree.

I'd like to see a limited form of socialized medicine implemented.  It would be a very low cost insurance plan run by the government.  If someone wanted to opt into it instead of their company healthcare program, the amount of money the company would have spent for your insurance would go to the government plan instead.  If that amount was more than what the government plan would have cost then it goes toward "grants" for people at the poverty level to help pay for the plan for them.  If that amount was less than the cost of the government plan then the employee would pay the difference.

No one would be forced into using the government plan and no one would have to do without insurance.

I agree!  We almost have an option like that - when I was at my poorest, I made use of government funded clinics - they were ok for helping you in a pinch, but they were not set up for long term managed health care.  But.. you know, an option like that... and now that I've worked in Health Care for the last four years I see that it's not impossible.

We do seem to agree.  Good one, Scott.

Mike wrote: Now, on to Dave and Matt's exchange (for which, sadly, I have some blame) - I think there's a misunderstanding here - maybe - I don't think Dave is being naive or duplicitious -  I think it's more a case of Dave taking the goverenment (or current administration) at their word and assuming that they will do the right thing.  Am I wrong on that assumption, Dave?

That's a fair assumption. I know things are being done in the hunt for OBL, not just by the CIA. The Bush quotes you listed earlier are from six months after 9/11. Anything more recent of Bush talking about OBL, or not being interested in where he might be, I'd be interested to see it. I still don't quite understand those quotes and how they fit in their proper context. I don't really believe that Bush was ever "not interested" and think this was probably a response that was born out of security concerns. Maybe it's just one of his bone-headed off the cuff remarks that don't make any sense when you hear them, but maybe make sense if you know everything he knows. I don't think he's been the greatest president at press conferences, to say the least. I know that there are dedicated factions within this government that are working on his capture, so please forgive me for not sharing the general tone of outrage that you and Matt are expressing over what Bush said almost seven years ago, and the fact that OBL still has not been found. I'm frustrated as well though, so I understand.

Agreed, Valerie.  In fact, these plans where you have to buy health insurance are just sops to the Insurance industry - it's like how you HAVE to buy car insurance.

But here's the thing - I believe that Obama is an intellegent man, and I believe he understands the pressures on the working class families.  I do not believe that he would rush head-first in with a policy that would harm the working class. 

That's all on faith, however.

Oh, making my rounds today, I swung by a comic shop (and before anyone nails me on hypocracy, no, I wasn't buying new books.  Looking for issues to fill holes before I have my collection bound) - and I brought home this li'l guy:

Here's a weblink if your comic store isn't carrying it: http://www.jailbreaktoys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode= OB000

Fun!