"Weekend at" Bernie Sanders Pushes Socialized Medicine

"Weekend at" Bernie Sanders is rising on individual donations. He is not taking in the same level of money as Hillary Clinton, but the groundswell of support will make him formidable in the early primary states. In his last fundraising eblast of the year, Sanders touts single-payer health care as the saving element for the American burdened by rising, exorbitant health care costs. Sanders' latest begins with the following tired screed for "health care as a universal right" blah, blah, blah:

Sisters and Brothers - That is the language of labor unions, trying to impose a flawed impression that the collectivism of the Left creates a different kind of family. Not a chance. I want to talk with you about one of the very real differences between Secretary Clinton and me that surfaced during last weekend's debate, and that is our approach to health care in this country. "Yes, I am not Hillary Clinton!" His staff seized emails and Internet data, and Clinton as Secretary of State violated the classified status of her electronic communications with two email servers, plus lying about it to cover herself. I was, and all progressives should be, deeply disappointed in some of her attacks on a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system. The health insurance lobbyists and big pharmaceutical companies try to make "national health care" sound scary. It is not. Yes, Clinton is a Big Government statist, bought and paid for by Big Business. Wall Street interests want the former First Lady, whom they know will keep the bailouts rolling out of Washington DC and flowing into their pockets. In fact, a large single-payer system already exists in the United States. It's called Medicare and the people enrolled give it high marks. More importantly, it has succeeded in providing near-universal coverage to Americans over age 65 in a very cost-effective manner.

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This baloney is patent nonsense. Medicare is a government subsidy, but thankfully nothing like a single-payer system. Men and women can still go to different hospitals, whether public or private, and there are still choices of doctors, however limited. The government does not control every facet every element of the health care industry. Right now, because of the gains made under the Affordable Care Act, 17 million people have health care who did not before the law was passed. This is a good start, and something we should be proud of. But we can do better. Why does anyone read these lies with a straight face? Why does anyone still banter about single-payer universal healthcare? This terrible government program is driving many hard-working yet working-class people throughout the Western World to forego much needed health care or suffer in long lines. The truth is, it is a national disgrace that the United States is the only major country that does not guarantee health care to all people as a right. Today, 29 million of our sisters and brothers are without care. Not only are deductibles rising, but the cost of prescription drugs is skyrocketing as well. There is a major crisis in primary health care in the United States. That's why our health care is better than other countries, Bernie. Otherwise, we would all look like you, half-dead and carried around by someone else. The truth is that millions of Americans do not have access to affordable care because of the "Affordable Care Act" which has only forced up costs while limiting access and resources. Single-payer would only double down on Obamacare's failures. So I start my approach to health care from two very simple premises: 1. Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege -- every man, woman and child in our country should be able to access quality care regardless of their income. Making something a right does not make it more readily available. Declaring something a right does not manifest a greater supply of something, of anything. US Senator Rand Paul was correct when he declared that forcing health care practitioners to offer their services would become another form of slavery. Everyone would be enslaved to a sclerotic bureaucracy peddling long waits of palliative care instead of long-term cures. 2. We must create a national system to provide care for every single American in the most cost-effective way possible. Such a system already exists, and would prosper if the government would just get out of the way. It's called the Free Market. So, what is stopping us from guaranteeing free, quality health care as a basic fundamental right for all Americans? I believe the answer ties into campaign finance reform. Economics. Supply and Demand. Scarcity. Reality. The reason why companies can jack up their rates is that government infiltration has stifled competition and innovation. Secretary Clinton, on the other hand, has received millions of dollars from the health care and pharmaceutical industries, a number that is sure to rise as time goes on.  More reasons not to vote for Hillary. So glad that someone is taking hits at Clinton, besides a few of the front-runner Republicans. So, what can we do about it? Changing the health care laws in this country in such a way that guarantees health care as a right and not a privilege will require nothing short of a political revolution. That's what this campaign is about and it is work we must continue long after I am elected the next President of the United States. Health is not a right, no more than health care is a right. Health is a choice based on responsibilities. Thank you for standing with me on this important issue. In solidarity, Bernie Sanders "In solidarity" - another hollow union term, as though every human being is part of one big happy family, and Big Daddy Government will take care of us. Big Daddy turns into Big Brother really quickly, and that hand of care will become a boot in our faces forever if We the People do not loudly and clearly reject socialism, especially single-payer health care.