One of the physicians I work with recently returned from a six month trip to New Zealand. I was very happy to see him, even though he is a devout liberal.  Almost immediatly we jumped right back into our very heated sparring over the state of our union.  Now this guy is not your run of the mill dailykos liberal.  He is one of those liberals that actually responds to, and retorts using facts.  One of the main things we have discussed was national healthcare, which they have in New Zealand.  I ran down every thing wrong with our healthcare system which he agreed on 99% of.  We both know how ignorant polititians are when it comes to the actual care in healthcare.  Those guys on the hill have no clue what it is like to see people abusing the system every hour of the day.  While the doc was abroad he worked in an emergency care clinic, and came home even more pumped about nationally covering America with the billion dollar band aid blanket.  He allowed me to go on my usual rants about how much money it would cost, waiting weeks for simple out paitent surgeries, and the massive law suits brought on by the influx of so many more people flooding the hospitals with their shiny new USA Insurance cards.  Causing the malpractice of physicians to skyrocket.  His retort was a huge surprise.  In New Zealand lawsuits are not an issue with most doctors.  He said that docs over there don't take much thought to being sued because it is just not done.  I am not sure if it is because of their system setup where just because someone sues  means they will get even a little bit in a settlement is not automatic, or if the New Zealanders are just not as prone to finding a quick and easy buck.  Either way  his description did offer up many solutions to the proposed problems with national healthcare.  I am still dead set against it, but I am really glad he has not been asked to participate in any national debates about  the issue.  He is the kind of liberal that can be dangerous.  Unlike David Letterman he is thoughtful. 

dont get me wrong. as a conservative i do believe in conservation, but i cannot seem to wrap my head around the idea of polititians telling us to do things like drive less, and not cool our homes to suit our own comfort levels because of the excess use of oil.  there is no oil shortage!!  sure i think that if we do cut back on or use of oil consumption it will make the big oil companies take notice, but in the long run doesn't it also send the message that we don't really need drilling in anwar and off of our shores.  oil has gone down 20 odd dollars/barrel within the last few weeks, and if that has anything to do with joe american tightening his/her belt then it becomes a contest as to who can hold their breath the longest.  us or the oil companies. in the mean time small business owner are the ones getting the real kick in the rear.  i know of two business men, within the last months who say they have seen a 15- 20% drop off in their business "because people are just not buying."  (quoted from a contractor friend)  by not drilling now we are cutting our oun throats.  like i said earlier.  WE ARE AMERICANS, AND WE SHOULD NOT BE HELD HOSTAGE BY GAS PRICES.  we the people run this country.  we have become lax about that.  we should stop the bartering with our polititians and tell them to drill and drill now.