I am always frustrated that I don't understand more about politics than I do.

And here it is again, another election year and part of me doesn't really know what to think....except, oh yeah, I can't stand the thought of another Republican in office. Yes, I don't care to disclose, I support Barack Obama.

I am getting into a health care discussion with someone on facebook...and still feel like I should know more about what I am discussing.

What I do know: I think that it is a travesty that there are 46 million Americans who are uninsured. I think it is ridiculous that the United States, the richest nation in the world with the best health care (as far as technology) spends MORE on health care than any other nation yet there are so many uninsured. I think it is devastating that a family would have to go bankrupt or forgo basic necessities in order to pay for the costs of medicine and treatment for someone that has a chronic illness. We're still the only industrialized nation without universal health care.
I think that at the root of this problem is the fact we still look at health care as a product to be sold to those willing to buy it. It is a way for XYZ company to make money. What if we looked at it as a basic human need that without question should be provided?

Is a government controlled universal health care system the answer for our country? I don't know really. There are all these stories from Canada and England saying that people have to wait months for basic treatment and surgeries...however, they can go to any doctor and be provided health care. There is no question about it.

Do I think something has to be done for the 46 million people that are uninsured (instead of just the limited-already-strained Medicaid)? YES. Something HAS to be done. And I don't believe that anything John McCain is going to throw out will do anything. $5000 tax credit? Sounds great for families who don't have anything more than basic check ups. What about people who have a child (or themselves) who have asthma or diabetes (thus ALWAYS having health care costs)? What about the family that is barely scraping by finds out one of them has cancer or another deadly disease? $5000 won't go very far.

I don't know what the best solution is. But I know it can't go on the way it is now.