The U.S. takes the lead among western industrialized nations

the last shall be first and the first last...

We are first among western industrialized nations when it comes to percentage of children living below the poverty line, murders of males between ages fifteen and twenty-four, in the number of handguns in the street used by people of all ages, the percentage of citizens incarcerated, energy consumption per capita, and in the emissions of air pollutants.

And, we are by far number one in the rate of people gunned down each year in street crimes and similar violent incidents. In America today, there are more African-American adult males in jail than in college.

but, despite the grim picture for health care in most of the u.s., there's at least one truly outstanding, extremely affordable, employer plan available, one that ranks right up there with the best any g8 country has to offer...

There is an employee/insurance deal in the U.S. that includes unlimited doctor office visits of your choosing; covers all accidents, routine exams, physical therapy, labs and X-rays; and the like; unlimited hospital visits and stays; certain chronic care and rehab; full prescription coverage; and unlimited specialty consultations. For the employee and the entire family. There are no deductibles, no co-pays, and only a $35 monthly fee taken from an annual salary of $158 thou. Thirty-five dollars!

The group awarded this insurance looks forward to a full pension and continued coverage until their deaths. Quite a few, most in fact, were millionaires before they took on their jobs that got them such a perk. Who gets this coverage? It would be nice if it were the underprivileged or the chronically ill and debilitated or our veterans.

But no. For starters, the 535 members of the U.S. Congress, and add to that the few hundred in the upper executive and judicial branches of government. They are also members of a demographic group where seven were arrested for shoplifting, nineteen for writing bad checks, and eighty-four for drunk driving. This bunch also has an overrepresentation of felony indictments, and a few ended up serving time.

as a consultant, a contractor, and a part-time professor, i receive no medical benefits nor can i afford to pay for my own, and i have zero desire to run for congress... as i've stated here previously, were it not for the truly excellent level of care i receive from the veterans administration by virtue of being a vietnam vet, i would be in a very precarious position regarding my health, and, as i get older, that vulnerability would only increase... eventually, i will become eligible for medicare, but one hell of a lot could happen between now and then...

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