Why has there been such antagonism to the idea of Universal Healthcare here?

[Zarn]

The government that can provide everything is the government that can take everything away.

The federal government should have no stake in being our little safety net. That's our job. Their job is to preserve republican values and maintain a military.

A large government is highly inefficient.

It's a tax nightmare waiting to happen.

It doesn't address the rising costs in health care.

There is a lot of potential for abuse.

[Zarn]

I understand all the arguments of opponents to universal health care in the United States.  Their are constitutional arguments, suspicion-of-government arguments, economic arguments, innovation arguments, "negative-rights" based arguments, ect. ect.  I also think I understand the motivations on the part of opponents to resist it.  Some arguments have a greater hold on facts than others, but I understand them.

But, at the same time, I have very strong feelings about this issue.  I personally find the rejection of the very idea of universal healthcare morally disgraceful.  We don't have it because, living in a democracy as we do, large portions of the electorate don't want it.  If we did want it, we could figure out a way, and there are numerous different ways available, to make it workable, as many, many other countries have done with, while not perfect (nothing human can ever be perfect) appreciable success.  But, on the most basic level, if ideological doctrines about government, making profits or saving money are more important to people than human life, no amount of persuasion will being them to the table.  If people don't even care about the health or well-being of their fellow citizens just because those citizens happen not to have means, then I have no inclination to give any credence to either their professed patriotism or religious values.  

Then you don't understand it, like you profess.

[Zarn]

Stop calling people 'poors.'

We are not in a class civil war.

[Zarn]

Basically, because the right-wing in this country is completely in the pocket of the insurance companies and they can manipulate a lot of uneducated and sometimes fanatical people into believing the most ridiculous logic. It borders on insanity.

The entire right-wing is in the pockets of the insurance companies? LMAO

[Zarn]

Basically, because the right-wing in this country is completely in the pocket of the insurance companies and they can manipulate a lot of uneducated and sometimes fanatical people into believing the most ridiculous logic. It borders on insanity.

The entire right-wing is in the pockets of the insurance companies? LMAO

     The entire right-wing (or close to it) in Congress is. That's more or less what matters, since the right-wing relies on them to set policy.

Just about all of Congress is in their pockets.

[Zarn]

...
But is it simply a political issue--Have all these Presidents in the past had bad plans, or simply articulated these bold initiatives to the public poorly?

Also, why is Universal Healthcare such a big "No-no" to the Right Wing, at least now and in 1993/1994? Why is that the ''tipping point'' for many of the commentators?
...

I think there is a lack of national solidarity/identity in the US, a byproduct of our cultural diversity and history of racial/ethnic tension.  The result is antipathy toward national programs that provide for those 'other' people.

Race card? Really?