Just to set the record straight....

I'm willing to pay taxes to get it. But I still want free healthcare.

you're willing to pay taxes for it. if every one was willing to do what you and I are willing to do, it would be affordable, but not free.. That's how the republicans want to frame the story. It's not true, nothing is free.

We hear about the super high taxes in the countries that have the universal health care, good retirements, etc, what people fail to realize is once we've paid all our taxes, including property tax, school tax, etc we're paying more and getting next to nothing in return.

That's the point. You can pay a set tax for a public service and then use that service to its fullest when you need it. Or you can pay a la carte whatever the health industry considers "affordable" when you need the care. I want the former.

I have posted this in reply to every posting I've seen on this on fb - which have been legion.

to dissuade hypochondriacs and people making appointments out of loneliness.

Sweden, for example, has an excellent taxpayer-funded healthcare system. You pay $21 to visit a doctor but once you have paid $111 your visits are free for the rest of the year. Similarly, your total prescription costs are capped at $249 per year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Sweden#Details_and_patient_costs

I would be thrilled to have a similar system here in the US. Especially since a couple of prescriptions for my kids' allergy medicines pretty much gets me to the $249.

All the money we pay in taxes--all taxes--we should be able to do something like this.

Imagine the health insurance we could afford if all Americans pooled a fraction of that resource.

for boomers who have not yet faced the issue.
Lets say mom and dad have worked their whole lives, played by the rules, paid taxes, own a home and some little savings. The generation that fought and won WW2.
One of them has a stroke, or orther debilitating health event. One of them needs a nursing home for 24 hour care. No one beyond the 1% can afford the $10,000 per month cost, at least not for long. They apply for Medicaid, they spend their savings and assets down, follow all the rules. When they die, Medicaid goes after the estate to recover what was spent. They will demand any memorials from the funeral, they will apply a lien against the family home or farm, any savings left over.
Compare to Norway. If they need a nursing home, it is paid with 80% of their pension (what we call social security). That's it. They do not lose their home, they are not penalized with poverty for the crime of growing old. They are honored and cared for by the society they helped to create.
The way we treat our elderly in this country is barbaric.

treat our children borders on sociopathic. I've read elsewhere that some 16 million American children are not getting enough food to eat in any given month! And this in a society where 1% controls 40% of the wealth and 10% controls 80% of the wealth.

And the Repigs want to cut 280,000 more children off nutrition assistance.

are two of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the history of mankind ever. I gather that, before the advent of SS and Medicare, elder poverty in America was far worse than it is today.

When Repigs or conservatives try to tell me that big government 'doesn't work,' I always trot out Social Security and Medicare as proof that big government can and does work.

So, to my mind, a central question now is whether American society can do for its youngest what it has somewhat succeeded at doing for its eldest.

Free scientifically advanced medical care for all
Quality free education up to and including advanced post-doctoral work
Minimum guaranteed yearly income for all
Jobs for all citizens who want them
Four day work week
An end to corporate socialism
Fair tax rates
A highly regulated banking system
A return to glass-stiegle
Massive works projects to upgrade infrastructure. grid, roads, telecommunications
State sponsorship of the Arts
Easily accessible business loans for small business entrepreneurs

That would be a start.