Flag is back!
The problem is that all the talk and policy is about insurance and not about health! I don't want insurance, I want health care. Only in the US does sooooo much of all healthcare dollars go into the pockets of people who spend time on accounting and lawyering.
Flag, you are right. No such thing as "affordable" health insurance. The question is, what can be done about it. The answer is not always simply to return to the way we did it in the "good ol days". Tweaking last centuries broken process is not going to work.
When you cut to the chase, the different policy issues boil down to a couple of main points. Should people who have lots of wealth have to pay more taxes on their "earnings" to keep all of the country's citizens healthy and productive? And, second, should the broad majority of the public have the right to impose such a system on those who have control of wealth (and therefore are disproportionally in possession of the means to wring more money out of our economy/civilization).
The simplified model of capitalism that we were taught in the '60s was so ingrained that we still use it to justify huge wealth disparities and pretend that it is core to the "American dream". "Pure" capitalism is as flawed as "pure" communism or "pure" socialism.
We won't be agreeing on any of this any time soon. We simply have vastly different views on how groups of people should interact with each other to avoid being taken advantage of by individuals in the same tribe who, at any given moment, happen to control more resources. My belief is that regulating economic activity to promote the common welfare is central to achieving the American dream. I also believe in democracy. I believe that one of the most un-American things one can do is prevent a fellow citizen from voting. If Gerrymandered districts and voter suppression get so bad as to provoke revolution, I'll be with the rebels.
Actually there is one thing we probably do agree on. Anyone who does not vote and thinks they have an opinion about politics should just shut up and go home. Not a problem here at Caco Laco to be sure but there are some Dems that did not vote in 2016 and they deserve a heaping helping of shame.