Hillary supporters are calling single payer health insurance a "pie in the sky" fantasy

[Jarqui]

65. Those electorates, certainly Canada, was howling "No way!! Commies!!!"

until their leaders walked through the merits, stuck to their guns and got it done

Here's Canada's Saskatchewan (almost Vermont) story
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/healthc.pdf

The CCF won the 1960 election, in spite of a well-funded campaign by doctors in opposition
to the health program. As the government proceeded to put its program into legislation through the
Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act (1961), the doctors continued their campaign against what
they termed "socialized medicine." Accusing the government of "communism" and "compulsory state
medicine," the doctors warned that the province was interfering with their right as professionals to
practice medicine and was attempting to make them "salaried government employees." They warned
that doctors would leave the province rather than work under such a system. Finally, in a last-ditch
effort to force the government to back down on its health care reform, the doctors went on strike on
July 1, 1961, the first day the new legislation came into effect.

The doctors' strike in Saskatchewan lasted 23 days and gained worldwide attention. While
the doctors agreed to maintain emergency services and the provincial hospitals remained open with
reduced staff, most private practitioners closed their offices. Ironically, the mortality rate in the
province declined during the strike, primarily because of the decline in surgery.

While much of the national and international media condemned the doctors action, the local
media supported the doctors and demanded that the government back down on its program. In spite
of the local media's support, as the strike wore on public opinion in Saskatchewan turned against the
doctors. As communities started to recruit doctors willing to work under the health plan from other
parts of Canada, the local doctors' resolve rapidly dwindled. The strike ended with the new health
program still intact. The provincial government negotiated a face-saving agreement with the doctors
which permitted them to opt entirely out of the plan and bill patients privately. With over 900 doctors
in the province at the time, none chose this option. The agreement also permitted doctors to maintain
their own medical insurance companies as clearinghouses for the Medical Care Commission, though
these were eventually eliminated by the doctors themselves as needless duplication.

In spite of the controversial start to the Saskatchewan program, it quickly proved to be a
success. Within a few years, the Saskatchewan model became the prototype for other provinces.

That's the kind of progression Bernie is talking about.

And look:
https://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f3f51624680366b198b6c5dea8687621?convert_to_webp=true
US spends four times as much on health care per capita as the Czech Republic and has a similar life expectancy - one of the worst of the developed nations. That shouldn't be a hard thing to sell: the US is getting ripped off badly and the real American victims of the policy can't complain very loudly because they're either too sick or dead.

Between 2001 and 2014, 3,063 Americans died in terrorist attacks in America.
In that same time, 631,700 Americans died because they didn't have healthcare. I'm not exaggerating. Think about that number for a moment. And then convince me why I should accept "pie in the sky" tax cuts that won't stop those deaths without healthcare. If Bernie's leader, at least we're past the point of having to argue with the President about it. This is a disgusting travesty. With Hillary, she'll have to ask Wall Street what they think about it because unlike Bernie, she lacks the fortitude to take a stand and really save some lives. Hillary's policy is to kick that can down the road with tax cuts - and continue to let folks die.

I don't think that's a pie in the sky argument if the Koch Brothers and Wall Street don't own your leaders like they seem to own Hillary and Congress. The costs and life expectancies and deaths without health care are facts - the simple truth. The rest of the "pie in the sky" crap is largely smoke to cover for the fat cats siphoning money from hard working Americans that cuts their loves short.

Enough.