[cgbg]

realize that medicine is a scarce resource - with the best going to the brightest, the luckiest, and the wealthiest

Yup, it is called the market--and it is the only health care system that works. Actually socialized medicine has a market as well--the black market!

The government has turned this industry into a cookie monster that eats up GNP because the people who get the services aren't paying for them.

Given the sheeple's view that "health care is a right" we are heading almost inevitably to fully socialized medicine.

At that point there will be a two-tiered system--a black market (perhaps off-shore) for the rich, and a queue for everyone else. "Free" medical care increases the demand for medical care which in turn will cause longer queues.

Another byproduct of socialized medicine is that the next generation will view the medical profession with disdain and the best and the brightest will stay away. A generation later and you are waiting days, weeks, and months for lousy medical care, the worst of both worlds.

There is a solution--it is called pay as you go and if you cannot afford then do without. That is the only way that scarce medical resources can be allocated properly. It is not fair, the liberals will whine. And the only answer is--life is not fair, but all attempts to hide that fact will only lead to a disaster many times worse.

[liberallarry]

If the government has a role to play in this, I think it is in encouraging research into cheaper technological solutions and education in preventative medicine. It might be better and cheaper for everyone if all employers provided 30 minutes of mandatory exercise every other day rather than subsidizing pill-pushers and butchers.