While I am in total agreement that we are in dire need of an overhaul with our healthcre system, I do not feel comfortable when I hear things like "people should be fined if they do not get healthcare" and the "people should be forced to buy healthcare."

To me once you give that kind of blanket authority to government you begin (to borrow a favorite phrase that our friend Plaw loved to use) to walk on the slippery slope.

Yes, I understand that there are many out there who CAN afford healthcare but do not have it and instead take advantage of and manipulate the programs that the government offers using taxpayer monies ( social services disability, social security, etc.).

But at the same time there are people out there who CANNOT afford healthcare who will need government / taxpayer assistance in order to get decent healthcare. And for these people we already have a system that provides health services to them. Unfortunately that system has fallen into near ruins because of the abuses that have been allowed to take place and build up over the years. But either way, under a new system or under the system that we currently have, our tax dollars are being used or will be used to provide healthcare to those who cannot afford to pay for their own.

Overhaul needed? Absolutely. But I believe that we need to start the overhaul where the real abuses begin: The Insurance companies themselves, the lawyers who are raping the insurance companies with their bogus lawsuits, the doctors who are abusing the system and billing the insurance companies for medical services or treatments that are not really needed or never even performed, and the people who are manipulating our system with their fake claims of not being able to afford medical coverage.

I paid for my own coverage for many years when I owned my own business, and believe me when I tell you that the monthly premiums were totally outrageous. So I am in total agreement that something needs to be done to make the current healthcare system more affordable for both businesses and individuals. In total agreement that the system needs to be tweaked in order to give access to healthcare treatment and coverage to those who really cannot afford it or get it.

But to arbitrarily "FINE" people for not purchasing Health Insuranace or arbitrarily "FORCE" people to purchase health insurance without reviewing a situation on a case by case basis is NOT the place, in my opinion, to start or overhaul a national healthcare program.

BOTH political parties want to make us believe that it's a black and white issue. It's not. There is still a lot of gray regarding this issue.

BTW - Mandatory Car insurance is NOT a federal requirement, but is actually a state by state law and in my opinion is totally a different animal than mandatory healthcare. But that issue my be better off debated in a totally seperate thread of it's own.