Currently, socialist investments, using capitalist firms, are building the healthcare infrastructure, the value and foundation of the Chinese healthcare marketplace. It sounds like China is buying into the idea in George’s blog – meritocracy.

Our marketplace may be making the “haves and have-nots” of healthcare coverage the socialist and the insurer the capitalist, the healthcare institution is trying to be somewhere in the middle dealing with its own escalating costs.

True enough. But China’s elderly are in a sense even better represented by a core leadership which is itself very elderly.

I agree with you 100%. My metaphor is an attempt to illustrate that the President has his hands tied with the legislative branch of government. The eppe wielding donkey represents uncompromising liberals who obsess over the fine details of the bills (hence the precisely cutting eppe), and the elephant wielding a cudgeon is representative of the neo-con, far righters, who prefer to break the bill up in favor of preserving their parties ‘core sentiments’.

I think, too, that this is my answer to your question about what the decorations in the room stand for – the unyielding sides of the legislative, far right and far left, who refuse to compromise productively on this bill.

Maybe too much?….haha

I think that should be our new tag line.

I LIKE TO PEE ON WALLS, TOO!

I do agree with you in part, though. It is not the most politically incorrect truth, but the best system of govt is one of a benevolent dictator (The key word being benevolent) who can show special interests the finger and steer the country in the right direction, big labour, lobbyists, and corporations be damned. However, both political approaches have faults. If Grover Norquist gets his wish of govt being so small you could drown it in a bathtub, Katrina-like responses become par for the course and you get state capture by lobbyists and corporations (Ask Russia). Too much discretion, and you get govt telling you how to eat your pasta. There is, of course, a balance here, and policy questions must be approached with a simple question: What works? As opposed to religiously clinging to ideologies that are never one-size-fits-all. The throwing about of cries of “Socialist” and “Commie” are especially infuriating from a nation that honestly has had a very pampered history when it comes to its leaders. Nowhere in Europe (Or most other countries in the world, for that matter), where they genuinely suffered the spread of Fascism and oppression, would the label “Hitler” be thrown about liberally.

Those people frothy with rage at Obama on the left and right must have slept through Civics 101: The limit on discretion on the federal govt was to protect the country from tyranny and put in place a system of checks and balances. You want better laws? Don’t just change your executive. Change the legislative and how they get there. Everything from the financial hell-hole to housing crisis and the health care mess shows a country need Campaign Finance Reform badly, lest a day will come when people need not even bother voting. The legislative, after all, the level of government that passes bills. All the president can do is propose. Will that be enough? Does the govt as is have the tools it needs, the will it needs, to get things done? We’ll see in the coming weeks. But whatever happens, I would not blame Obama entirely. It would be a failure on the part of the American govt as a whole– all 3 arms– if they stare in the face of what is the best thing to do for the American people and turn around just the opposite.