Wow, what an incredible story about an incredible man.

I think the single most important statement is this:

By 1947, Saskatchewan had one of the strongest economies in Canada. After just three years as premier, Douglas made the province financially stable enough to introduce universal hospitalization for all residents of Saskatchewan for an annual fee of $5.

It goes against all the whining from the right in the US about government control and health care killing the economy.

Americans are far too greedy to ever allow a sensible or humane health care system to exist in their country. It'll never happen. It will always be nothing but a destructive mess of bureaucracy.

On the plus side, dead people don't collect Social Security. So, fark yeah, Amurika!!!!

mrshowrules: Vodka Zombie: Americans are far too greedy to ever allow a sensible or humane health care system to exist in their country. It'll never happen. It will always be nothing but a destructive mess of bureaucracy.

On the plus side, dead people don't collect Social Security. So, fark yeah, Amurika!!!!

You will get it one State at a time. In the mean time it will suck for many people and will be very expensive. Plus, it is also hurting the competitiveness of your small businesses. It is the single biggest trade advantage Canada has with the US right now.

Well, in order for any sensible reform to actually happen in America (and not just health care, but pretty much everything), we must first figure out how to make it profitable and who will profit from it.

Vodka Zombie: Well, in order for any sensible reform to actually happen in America (and not just health care, but pretty much everything), we must first figure out how to make it profitable and who will profit from it.

At the risk of being stoned as a heritic, not everything has to turn a profit.

mrshowrules: You have to be a prick and stupid one of those profiting from the private insurance industry to support the private insurance model for basic health care.

But Socialism BAD, m'kay?

strathcona: Vodka Zombie: Well, in order for any sensible reform to actually happen in America (and not just health care, but pretty much everything), we must first figure out how to make it profitable and who will profit from it.

At the risk of being stoned as a heritic, not everything has to turn a profit.

The government's job isn't to turn a profit. It's to provide essential services to its populace... services like police, military, a legal system, and roads

Well, America had Norman Borlaug.

rumpelstiltskin: sweetmelissa31: Tommy never forgot the experience. A medical crisis could affect anyone -what would happen to the people who weren't as lucky as he had been?

"The Greatest American" would have said "I got mine."

One of the great things about living in a free country is, you get what you deserve. So we never have to say "I got mine", because of course we do.
There are some people who do not seem happy with their mines. Those people should focus on deserving more and complaining less,

Yes, especially cancer. People who get cancer totally deserve it. And if, even with insurance, their health care costs eat through their children's college funds that they have worked very hard to build, the brats deserve that, for daring to have a parent who deserves to get cancer. And should they lose all of their savings, and have to sell their home just to stay alive, they deserve that, too. Hard working families deserve to lose everything because they deserve to get cancer, but Paris Hilton deserves to have everything and anything she desires because she is of such benefit to society.

"Had he born in America, the US might be in better shape"

No, if he had been born in America, he would have been convicted of treason and hung from the gallows.

Flab: [www.strangecosmos.com image 300x450]

Greatest Canadian at what she does, but what she does is purple monkey dishwasher.

Who is that?

Objectively comparing nationalized healthcare to other countries that have had nationalized healthcare is un'merican. Well unless you're totally making shi@t up like old people having to wear bracelets so they don't get killed and other cool things Hannity talks about.

Flab: strathcona: Who is that?

Ms. Bianca Beauchamp. (GIS NSFW)

That's what I was hoping for. :)

Had he been born in the USA, he'd still be railing against Darwin and "evilution",
promoting discrimination against gays, and bemoaning the mingling of the races. He was Bapitist, after all.

SASKATCHEWAN... FARK YEAH!

So, it's an article of an Uncle John's bathroom reader article, about a TV program that aired almost 8 years ago?

Needs either Follow Up tag, or oldnewsisexciting.jpg

unyon: While it would be nice to believe that it was Douglas' policies that led to this budget surplus, it's important to note that oil was discovered in SK in 1943. Government revenues jumped not insignificantly during Douglas' time in office. While he managed them commendably, one wonders how history would have viewed him, and Medicare, if the social experiment had happened to have timed out with a recession in the province.

TANSTAAFL.

mrshowrules: You will get it one State at a time.

There's nothing from stopping a state from enacting a single payer/socialized healthcare system, If it worked so well, a state would have made it successful by now and others would have followed.

Meanwhile, in Baptist America:

I wouldn't call it a "fundamental human right". I'd call it a reasonable service society can pay for if we can afford it.

namegoeshere: Yes, especially cancer. People who get cancer totally deserve it. And if, even with insurance, their health care costs eat through their children's college funds that they have worked very hard to build, the brats deserve that, for daring to have a parent who deserves to get cancer. And should they lose all of their savings, and have to sell their home just to stay alive, they deserve that, too. Hard working families deserve to lose everything because they deserve to get cancer, but Paris Hilton deserves to have everything and anything she desires because she is of such benefit to society.

Some people who choose a lifestyle of sloth, obesity and alcoholism will get cancer and yes, they deserve it. As a society, we have removed the penalty of failure from those who:

Refuse to work
Choose to have children they cannot afford
see others as responsible for their poor decisions
Refuse to take responsibility for their health

and then you call conservatives "heartless" who wonder how they got roped into subsidizing someone else's willful failure. Just ask yourself, do the recipients give a damn about who provides healthcare for them or do they feel that they are owed it because they exist?

The extreme circumstances of cancer, temporary destitution and other medical emergencies are not bankrupting this country or bankrupting the social services programs.

o5iiawah: namegoeshere: Yes, especially cancer. People who get cancer totally deserve it. And if, even with insurance, their health care costs eat through their children's college funds that they have worked very hard to build, the brats deserve that, for daring to have a parent who deserves to get cancer. And should they lose all of their savings, and have to sell their home just to stay alive, they deserve that, too. Hard working families deserve to lose everything because they deserve to get cancer, but Paris Hilton deserves to have everything and anything she desires because she is of such benefit to society.

Some people who choose a lifestyle of sloth, obesity and alcoholism will get cancer and yes, they deserve it. As a society, we have removed the penalty of failure from those who:

Refuse to work
Choose to have children they cannot afford
see others as responsible for their poor decisions
Refuse to take responsibility for their health

and then you call conservatives "heartless" who wonder how they got roped into subsidizing someone else's willful failure. Just ask yourself, do the recipients give a damn about who provides healthcare for them or do they feel that they are owed it because they exist?

The extreme circumstances of cancer, temporary destitution and other medical emergencies are not bankrupting this country or bankrupting the social services programs.

This is, of course, all stated under the false premise that conservatives don't help themselves to large amounts of tax payer money for their own willful failures.

This article glosses over one of the more interesting parts of Medicare adoption - the Doctor's Strike.