Will we see universal single payer health insurance?

[SHRED]

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Will we see the growing and use of industrial hemp in our country?

Will we see ALL of our troops come home and many foreign bases shut down?

Will we ever have a truly progressive President of this country?

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[NV Whino]

1. Your grandchildren might see single payer health insurance

I see hope for hemp. California is about to legalize marijuana, which will open the door for industrial hemp.

We will never see foreign bases shut down, which means that ALL of our troops will never be home. We can hope we will never use them in a war again, but...

A truly progressive president? Nope, not gonna happen.

[lostnotforgotten]

2. Not With Obama In Charge

eom

[terisan]

3. I think the unvsl health insurance will follow a revolution against the corporate giants & wall st

[Exilednight]

4. Single payer, or true universal health care, was never promised by any candidate except ............

Kucinich. It will not happen for quite some time. Obama will take the first serious steps, but truly universal health care is still a decade or two away.

[vaberella]

16. Exactly, except for the last part. If the economic climate wasn't as

problematic as it is now then I would say that it would take a decade. But the set up now will push a single payer plan faster because people will want that security. The reason I say that is because the people will see how they lost health insurance at the fall of the economy by losing their jobs or being crippled by the pay for health insurance so they will automatically gravitate towards a Government implementation if only to protect against extenuating circumstances. So, I'd give it about 5 years for a universal health care with private insurance still on the table. But definitely a properly working public insurance will be put in place as a option within a year to two years.

[Exilednight]

20. You're misreading the economy. Putting health insurance companies .............

out of business will cost our country tens, if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.

It will be a phased in program over at least a decade, but more likely two. Our economy, the unemployment numbers in particular, can not handle that kind of stress. It will also bottom out the stock of several companies, including those that are not directly in the practice of supplying medical insurance but have insurance companies in their portfolio.

Something else to think about, companies that offer multiple types of insurance will begin to look for ways to make up for loss revenue. So you can basically look for premium increases across the board for home, auto and life insurance.

[EndElectoral]

5. Unfortunately no with the insurance lobby. One of the biggest shames on our country.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. Yes, Yes, No, Got One

I think Obama's doing his best to move left. There's a zone of political do-ability that he has to stay within. He's pushing that zobe to the left, whereas the previous four presidents pushed it to the right.

[creeksneakers2]

7. Maybe the hemp

Possibly the troops too, if somebody sets the spark for it. If universal health care comes it will drive the private sector out and lead to single payer.

We will never have a far left president.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. Depends on the next few months.

If this is another relatively mild economic downturn, worse than any in the last 25 years but no rival of the Great Depression, then the existing order will continue to continue, and real progressive reform will once again be put off. On the other hand if we are in the midst of an actual depression, a severe and long lasting economic collapse, then indeed we will have to abandon our imperial garrisons as did the British after WWII as we will no longer be able to afford the cost of empire, we will have to rethink our ludicrous war on some drugs because our prison system is bankrupting our states, and we may find that when pushed Obama is a progressive. The conundrum here is of course that we will have to suffer through an economic collapse like most of us have never lived through to get there, and then there is always the danger that rather than a new progressive era, out of the crisis we will get fascism.

[Honeycombe8]

9. When the people vote for that, we will. So far, the people have not voted for those things. nt

[roody]

10. Yes. Sooner than we think.

[LWolf]

24. When?

2012? 2016?

[roody]

25. I predict it will be successful on a state by state basis.

[LWolf]

26. That's not "universal," is it?

"Universal" means that everyone is served. Everyone in the nation, not those in a particular state.

[Vinca]

11. Healthcare will evolve into single payer if a government option

is made available. Once people realize the usual right wing scare tactics are baloney (you won't have a choice of doctor, etc.), they'll gravitate toward the plan that is most economically feasible. Industrial hemp seems like a no brainer - has anyone brought it to the forefront recently? No to question 3 and probably not to question 4.

[vaberella]

14. Exactly as Vinca says. You need to see the summit video.

Everyone is advocating except for the minute few, and even some Republicans, for a government run option. If that is put in place, small businesses and corporations will automatically apply to that and most people will go to that then it will eventually collapse the private insurance. Anyway no nation has single-payer. They mainly have mixed system with a public insurance dominating.

[Occam Bandage]

12. To answer the questions in order:

1. Yes.
2. lol.
3. No.
4. Probably not, since "Progressive" means nothing more than "roughly twice as liberal as Democrats are at the moment."

[leftofthedial]

13. no.

no.
no.
no.

nothing short of a catastrophic end to the old USA and a new revolution would allow any of those things to happen.

[Auggie]

15. Single payer? Only if everyone wrote their congressperson and demanded it

Until then, forget it.

[CTyankee]

18. I think a lot of people are writing to their congressperson. They may not all be

as conversant with "single payer" as folks on DU. But they know something is really, really wrong with our health insurance program in this country. The economic crisis has just made it worse. I am pretty sure every congressperson is hearing from consituents "Something must be done."

[treestar]

17. When the baby boomers are old enough to have health problems

There will be a big push for it.

[mvd]

19. Yes to the health care question

But our system will evolve into single payer IMO. Will we have a more progressive President? Depends on if the people take the peace and prosperity that another Democratic President will create for granted. It seems we fix things and then too many people get fooled again.

[polichick]

21. I have HOPE. :)

[irislake]

22. Not in my lifetime.

I am seventy.

[LWolf]

23. Short answer: No.

Not in my lifetime.

Probably not in my sons' lifetimes.

Perhaps in my grandson's, if he lives long enough.

But I'm not optimistic.

[Naturyl]

27. Yes, but not anytime soon.

Progress has its own clock. A watched pot never boils, you know.