What do you guys think about the whole Healthcare debate?

[Sbane]

I never understood why the public option became the dealbreaker for so many moderates. Having a public option alongside private options strikes me as a much smaller deal than having so much government control over "private" insurance.

It didn't have anything to do with ideology....the insurance companies didn't want a public option so the "moderates" in congress turned against it. In the real world, people would have much preferred a bill with a public option than what we finally got.

Assuming that the politicians are completely controlled by insurance companies (which is a bit overblown imo), that still leaves the question as to why the companies were more concerned about a public option competitor than they were the enormity of regulation put upon themselves.

Interesting question for which I do not have a definitive answer for. It is something I hope to learn in more detail over the next few years. I don't think insurance companies are completely happy with the bill, don't get me wrong there. But seemingly it's better than a non-profit, or even worse, a government competitor in their eyes. I think they are right about a government competitor that could get access to capital at discounted rates. A non-profit system regulated by the government is what we should move to, but the public option was not that if I understand it correctly.

[courts]

Disgusting charade. In any event, the US should have gotten universal coverage >50 years ago. This is reason #123456 why I have a hard time taking "the Right" (or uh.. well you know who else) very seriously in this country anymore despite obviously being lumped in.

[exopolitician]

Don't let the good become the enemy of the perfect.  The Patient Protection Act is a bit of a disappointment, but it still is significantly better than what came before.  And besides, there is no reason to think why we cannot improve on it in the future -as was done with Social Security.   

This.