[just me]

It is my present opinion that health care reform at the federal level should not occur in the US. It is my opinion that it should occur at the state level. The US is a pretty unique place in that it is a collection of independent states that all agreed to a union under a constitution. Since the union began the federal government has grown and grown in it's power. States have to comply or the taxes they paid to the federal government won't be sent back to maintain roads. It's really pretty silly. I do think a strong federal government is a good thing in some aspects, but I also think it has it's disadvantages too. In terms of health care reform I see it as a real disadvantage.

Nobody really knows what the overall effect of any proposed health care reform will be, but everyone knows the current system is unsustainable as it is increasingly denying coverage to more and more people.

Clearly 'a fix' is needed, but what should that fix be?

It is my opinion that the federal government is simply incompetent to come up with a fix. Senators and Representatives have already more or less gone on record as saying 'if you want my support, buy it'. They want huge pork concessions to their states or they won't support health care reform. Ultimately we the voters need to ID these folks and vote them out of office, but I certainly am not holding my breath.

What I think Obama should do is restore some power to the states and let the states handle health care reform. The states with the senators and reps who don't want reform can have their politicians answer to the voters of that state. The states who do want reform can band together and try a solution. Some solutions might really suck and backfire and others might be really great. Over time what works and does not work will become self evident.

I do not believe the US should adopt Canadian or European solutions, I think we should develop our own solution and it should be *better* than any solution to date. I don't see the federal government as being capable of this, but I do believe if the individual states were empowered to pursue reform at least one of them would stumble upon something brilliant.