The chart below compares the cost of healthcare among a group of modern, industrialized nations. It should be noted that each of these other countries have all residents covered for their healthcare, while the U.S. does not. This next chart compares government healthcare spending per capita in the United States and Canada. Clearly while the United States spends more on healthcare, Canad ...

How far can they fall? This once proud party can no longer effectively govern, their approval poll number is 26%, and they're seen by most of us as election manipulators and cheaters. And worst of all, what they mainly seem to do is whine and complain and portray themselves as "victims" when in fact --- they are the bullies. Tune into any Fox News program, radio talk-shows on the Right, or ...

We can't quite get our heads around the GOP thinking that there's any possible upside for their willingness to throw the country into default on our nation's debt, in exchange for slashing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid --- all very popular social programs. The leverage that they seem to think they have looks like a losing hand to play. Their miscalculations could be disastrous for ...

A mother bought guns, probably because she thought they would keep her safe. But, they did not --- those guns were the cause of her death in the hands of her troubled son. Those guns were also the cause of the deaths of 27 others, mostly children aged 5 to 10 years old. The horror of the massacre of 20 kindergarten children by a disturbed 20 year old is almost more than we can face. I've bee ...

It's been called an election without substance --- all smoke and mirrors. Actually, we think this election was pretty clear on the big issues. The exit polling questions/answers told us where the country stands on women's rights, immigration reform, war, a balanced approach to deficit reduction, the basic civil right to vote, and at the same time the exit polls demonstrated huge passion amon ...

TWEET: Michael Linden@MichaelSLinden "John King says the country is a center right country - on the same night Obama is reelected and Dems win seats in both chambers." I saw this tweet last night, and it reminded me that common wisdom DOES have it that America is a center right country, and that IS why we started this blog two years ago during the healthcare debate. We named our blog "Cent ...

Daniel McCarthy at The American Conservative magazine wrote an interesting article this week that goes a long way in ringing the alarm bell for today's GOP. He asks the question, "Is the GOP Still a National Party?" And, pretty much answers, "No." His take is that the GOP has become a regional party, beholden to their right-wing base and less and less able to run a national campaign that appe ...

Check out Maddow Blog this morning for a great message. We reformatted parts of it here. THIS IS A PRESIDENT WHO PASSED: • A health-care reform breakthrough 100 years in the making • He also imposed the most sweeping Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression • Obama also rescued the economy from collapse • Rescued the American auto industry • Ended the war in Iraq ...

I think we all know bullies when we see them ... and, the only way to deal with bullies is to NOT give in to their demands! It's pretty clear to me that the GOP has held our country hostage for three years --- hostage to their demands that they get their own way on everything. And it's clear that they announced, with their actions, that they will not help govern unless they can be in charge ...

You know the idea that private enterprise will do a MORE efficient job of running Social Security and Medicare? Well, if you really-really like the idea of putting your Social Security money in the hands of the Big Banks (witness the older Americans who have lost their retirement money on Wall Street); and you really-really like the idea of having your Medicare just handed over to the Big In ...