Soiled_Spit_Liebe
Touche. It is hilarious.
What's that America?
I can't hear you over our
free health care.
Even if healthcare is "free", it really isn't. Nothing in the world is free - the sources of payment might just come from different places. In America, if the government foots the bill (no pun intended) without raising taxes or cutting funding on other initiatives, then the economy is going to be even more trashed than it already is, unless Americans are willing to suck it up and pay higher taxes or cut other government programs. Printing more money doesn't really work when you want to pay for something, nor does putting it on credit.
I cannot speak for Canada's (or France's, beyond that the French pay much more in taxes than do Americans) economic management of healthcare, but there is a cost, to someone, somewhere, whether it be the time of doctors who are willing to work for "free"/food/shelter, higher taxes, or a direct expense to a company or individual (yes, some companies are individuals; let's not get into that). There is no free lunch.
I believe that the real problem behind the healthcare for America issue is: "where will the money come from?" That is really a larger issue than the dichotomy between equity and efficiency for America right now.
EDIT: Ha, I totally just went off on a tangent because of one word in your response. Sorry about that - you probably just had a temporary brain-freeze about what "free" means.
sweatdrop