universal healthcare

[Jester]

My information came mainly from an article in a dutch online newspaper. They quoted republicans who were concerned about the huge costs.

And what, if the Republicans say it, it must be right? :rolleyes:

Republicans stand to gain politically from this bill being defeated. If the Democrats, already suffering in the polls thanks to the economy, put their weight behind a high-profile program like this, only to see it fail, the Republicans would gain a major advantage in the 2010 elections. It happened before, with the Clintons, and it could have happened here. The Republican strategy was to make this the Dems' "Waterloo". Their critiques are not, in my opinion, motivated by a reasonable estimation of the costs and benefits of this program, but primarily by ideology, political pressure from their base ("tea parties") and the zero-sum nature of a two-party electoral system. If the Dems lose, the Reps win.

-Jester