ALL the candidates' healthcare plans are going to be variations on a theme. With the exception of Kucinich, none of them wants to be too complex, abolish private health insurance companies on the one hand, or disincentivize them from bringing down costs or covering everyone on the other. Plus, none of the candidates can afford to spend too much money. That only leaves a handful of options to play around with. Even with these constraints, Sen. Clinton's plan sounds smarter and cheaper. But keep up the petty name-calling John and Elizabeth! I'm sure it'll get you LOTS of votes.

I dare ABC to put the two plans side by side and see if Hillary's plan is almost identical to JREs. What are the chance that two plans could be almost identical unless the other one copied the others plan. The only difference and it is a big one is that Hillary's gives the insurance companies more power than JREs. I think we know which one the insurance companies would favor more. I suppose that Hillary could not knock the insurance companies out completly since she gets so much moeny from their lobbyist.

For-profit insurance companies exist for only one reason - to increase their bottom line. Medicare has 3% administrative costs while private for-profit insurance companies have 25% administrative costs. Health insurance company executives rake in huge salaries and consistently appear in the top 5% of ALL corporate salaries. Sorry John, Elizabeth and Hillary, but private, for-profit health insurance companies have NO business making money off other people's fear and illnesses no matter how much it's camoflaged by glossy campaign rhetoric...

This has been happening since the beginning of the campaign. Edwards leads and Clinton and Obama follow. Edwards has shown over and over again that he has the vision, the ideas, the passion, the strength and the decency to lead this country into a brighter future. He has had the courage to put his ideas out there while the others have cowered behind generalities. Clinton has consistently shown she is in bed with the very forces that are causing our problems. And Obama has shown that he is being so carefully managed; he is simply not ready for the major league. Therefore both are seen by the corporate-controlled mainstream media as candidates who will "cooperate" rather than use their power to forcefully bring about the change America so desperately needs, so that they have received massive media coverage while Edwards has been purposely ignored, with the hope his candidacy will whither on the vine. Just last week Edwards gave a major speech -- substantive and detailed -- outlining how, as President, he would fight terrorism -- The first candidate to do so. One of the most crucial issues of our time, and the media has deliberately chosen not to let the American people know about it. Because they know that President Edwards will use his power to do the right thing about Iraq, global warming, education, and he will improve the lives of the working people of this country, rather than "cooperating" with corporate greed. It is important for Americans to not allow the media to manipulate us. We need to pay attention and seek out the facts. If we do, John Edwards will be the Democratic nominee, and, as all the general election matchup polls show, he will defeat any Republican they nominate. If Edwards is not the nominee, we will surely have a Republican in the White House in January 2009. You can bet on it. And if we do, we will be lost.

The more they talk the less I like them. I don't even consider Edwards in the race anymore. But there is no way I would vote for a minority or a woman for President - really - so what do I know...