> ...what constitutes a moral issue for you?

It depends ...

:-)

Thos

Sent by Thos | 2:17 PM ET | 04-12-2007

Regarding the "would you stop and help an illegal immigrant appearing to be in distress?" question, just how do you identify an illegal immigrant? Isn't this more of a race issue, since there wouldn't likely be a way to identify one's immigration status?

Sent by Jennifer | 3:27 PM ET | 04-12-2007

Hello,
With respect to on air comments made about national health care,can someone tell me/us how many tax dollars would be needed from each citizen to fund a national health care system ?
Regards,Ray

Sent by Ray Pennoyer | 3:40 PM ET | 04-12-2007

The right to free health care misses the whole point that the government exists to protect our natural rights, not to grant us new ones.

Sent by Corinna Cohn | 3:41 PM ET | 04-12-2007

Well, I don't really accept the notion of "morality" per se. I believe in actions and consequences and I try to perform actions that will bring about the consequences I desire. Of course, one of those desirable consequences is living in a functioning society, so I try to behave in a fassion that will promote functional society, so long as that doesn't conflict with some other desirable outcome.

Sent by Josh | 3:51 PM ET | 04-12-2007

By coincidence, last evening while reading "The Vintage Mencken," gathered by Alistair Cook in 1955, I came across Mencken's article "The Art Eternal," published in the New York Evening Mail in 1918. You guessed it, the eternal art is lying. Some quotes from the article:
"Lying is the product of the unconscious yearning to realize such visions [plans and specifications for cutting a better figure in human society], and if the policeman, conscience, prevents the lie being put into plain words, then it is at least put into more or less plausible acts."

"For the habitual truth-teller and truth-seeker, indeed, the world has very little liking. He is always unpopular, and not infrequently his unpoplularity is so excessive that it endangers his life." - e.g., martyrs and whistle-blowers.

And, finally,
"If he tries to tell the truth about the government, its agents seek to silence him and punish him."
Ahh, vintage Mencken.

Sent by Ken Larner | 7:07 PM ET | 04-12-2007

Jennifer,

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the question should have been framed "would you stop to help a minority?" Because if someone were illegal from Germany you wouldn't know, but they would be white and therefore "safe."

Corrina,

It is possible to argue that the right to "life" and health care go hand in hand.

Ray,

I cannot answer this question but I will ask you if the amount of money needed would be covered by not doing some things. Illegal wars, corporate welfare, subsidized research for drug companies. How about we could say that since capitalism has only so much room at the top and a privileged few are there and can be there that those few privileged people should pay for that privilege and cover the cost of health care. The cost of health care could be reduced by eliminating direct consumer marketing of drugs. Also by not doing unnecessary tests because the insurance company will pay for it. A side note (my wife went for her annual hpv and cancer check up, she was unknowingly tested for a variety of STDs. We have been married 11 years, why would she need these tests? Yes because its free money from the insurance company.) Also prevention goes a long way when nipping serious illness in the bud. So instead of waiting until homeless John Q gets rushed to the ER in a diabetic coma maybe we could help him out before hand.
We could also stop convincing everyone they are sick, we could put physical education back in schools. Give tax incentives for gym memberships. There are a number of ways to cut the costs so providing everyone with health care makes sense and cents. This lack of compassion is amazing, we put a man on the freakin moon but we cant keep our people healthy. Oh yes and lets not forget about holding corporations (or the people that own them) responsible for their actions, pollution and selling poison.

Sent by Joel | 7:10 PM ET | 04-12-2007

from Jim Steinman: "Everything's a lie, and that's the truth>"

Sent by Lee Jefferis | 7:25 PM ET | 04-12-2007

I would be interested in taking the survey for fun, but it's closed right now. Is there anywhere that I could still get a list of the questions in your values survey?

Sent by Sarah Stankorb | 10:11 PM ET | 04-12-2007

It's unfortunate that people were asked if all citzen have the right to EQUAL health care. I absolutely think all citizens have a right to health care, and also that a person has the right to spend more money for more health care.

We really need a new paradigm, not just a fix for a poor health insurance system. We need to ask what the purpose of health care is. If the purpose is to keep our citizens productive, it needs to include medical, optical, dental and mental health. To make it cost effective it needs to emphasize preventative care and thorough testing.

As for the expense of it, we can ask, who benefits. Lower classes do, of course, but there are even greater benefits for middle class small business owners who need healthy employees, and corporate America which needs an economically health market. I don't think it's unreasonable for the higher earning folks to subsidize health care that benefits all, including benefits that accrue to the wealthy by having a healthy work force and market.

By the way, on our local Talk of Alaska show last year, it was stated that the State spends $10,000 per year on its residents. By my way of thinking, that means every Alaskan could have "free" health insurance without the state spending anything additional. (Individual health insurance was costing me and my husband $1,400 per month, before we had to give it up for financial reasons).

Sent by Christina Peterson | 1:52 AM ET | 04-13-2007

Christina,
You are obviously wealthy, if you werent you would not have been able to afford 1,400 a month at any point. What you paid in health care is more than half the amount my family of five takes home in a month. So if you were on the bottom end I think your prospective would be a little different. I guess I just hate the idea of a consumer/free market approach to something so vital. I guess by your standards a wealthy person with liver failure should be able to by a new one sooner, or a more choice liver while the rest of us poor slobs wait or get seconds. This is as much a class issue as anything. You or anyone else does not deserve better health care than me my kids or a homeless kid. The wealthy are not more important, they just have more money, thats it. Also the point of people being healthy is not to be a "healthy employee" its to just live well and be happy.
The economy only exists in someone's head and so does the value of a buck.

Sent by Joel | 9:44 PM ET | 04-13-2007

Morality used to have parameters. Some as simple as the golden rule. But everyone twists these days. If I say I get my way of life from the Bible and also say I'm against illegal immigration, someone else will say that I'm not taking care of people like Jesus said I should. Well... that's subjective. Just like every other meter to measure morality.

And as for healthcare...
Has everyone forgotten about the American Dream? I guess it was always a farce. We should stop telling our children that they can be anything they want to be because obviously, they can't. They're unable to get high enough up because of the corporations on top of them, illegal wars and other oppressing facets of capitalism. Bull. You want something, go for it. You don't like your station in life, change it. Don't expect others to pave the way for you. I finally got tired of having no health insurance, got off my butt and worked hard to get a full time job that had it.

Sent by Heather | 11:23 PM ET | 04-13-2007

You're way off, Joel. I am not at all wealthy. I mention the cost of insurance because most people can't afford insurance unless they get it through an employer. Many can't even imagine it. We may have been able to find something for a little less, but not by much at our age (in our fifties).

At first my husband's employer was paying his insurance, because he was injured on the job. When they stopped covering him under their employee policy (at a much lower rate, I'm sure) we had to pay COBRA rates. And it WAS more than half our income.

We continued with the insurance to try to protect his disability claim. It didn't do much good. They paid about $30,000, and claimed he was a malingerer. He is no loner able to work because of chronic pain, nerve damage and myofascial syndrome.

Part of the reason I think we should have socialized medicine is because of the many people I know who have had Workers Comp "doctors" (some even unlicensed) who deny injury. And Nam vets getting similar kinds of run-arounds. Too many dollars are spent trying to disqualify injured persons instead of treating them.

I think the cost of insurance would be lower if some medical services, such as heroic measures to keep a terminally ill patient alive, were covered only under separate insurance. I don't want that service, and I don't want to pay for it. If someone else wants that extra service at their own expense, I'm happy for them to have that unequal service and expense. I also don't want to contribute to a money pool for folks who want face lifts or extreme fertility treatments, etc, whether as an insurance customer or a tax payer.

I do not narrowly define productive citizen. Elder talking telling traditional stories, alcoholics sharing recovery tactics, and people sharing happiness are all importantly productive citizens.

But from a simple dollars and cents point of view, healthy people are simply good for the economy. I know several people young men over 21 who don't qualify for state medical aid, who have rotting teeth, systemic infection, no glasses, etc, and who can't get a job because of their bad health. There's no need to be defensive, but there is need to support the value of a medical care system that serves society and even the economy.

Sent by Christina Peterson | 3:20 AM ET | 04-14-2007