One more thing for Nigee - "Assault rifles" have been back for nearly a decade (since 2004). This was just a story of how Feistein admits she can't get the support to get the rebanned again so she is withdrawing her amendment to the bill.

She would get support in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, India, Canada, and pretty much any other upscale nation. But hey, America is different, nothing new.

Let's see, did Bo just try to say the US is worse than China (home of the downtrodden and land of the human rights abusers)?

@bo - Don't like it here? Grow up and move somewhere outside the US. We don't want you here if you don't believe in our democratic system where the will of the *people* is heard.

Bo come to the UK, we're not completely retarded to let our citizens own anti-aircraft cannons

Don't worry Draug, I'll defect to Canada where Harper's healthcare system is the exact same as Obama's.

SY is from the UK. That explains a lot.

Oh yeah and we have free healthcare for everyone, a working welfare system, and less imperialist tendencies and an unwritten constitution that doesnt cause massive arguments

And a more economically, environmentally, socially, and physically better landscape than the United States.

Amazing to think the continent with the most beautiful figure in the world is being ripped apart by tar sands and coal expeditions, ain't it, my fellow rednecks?

@BoSox,
If you're trying to escape tar sands, Canada may not be the place for you...

Free healthcare which is notorious for putting people with chronic and life threatening conditions on wait lists. Thanks, I will take my insurance provider and my doctor who *wants* to see me and isn't overloaded because the government orders him to handle more patients than is realistic in a day.

Working wlefare system? I'd rather see welfare only for those who can't do for themselves thank you.

I won't get into imperialist tendencies cause that argument is A) bullshit as Britain was once the *worst* of the imperialist nations and is usually right there in the same conflicts as the US, they just are so wimpy nowadays that nobody notices and B) who says imperialism is bad?

Unwritten constitution - In other words, if the politicians want to do it, they can. There are no checks and balances. And this is supposed to be better? Thanks but no thanks.

On a final note, the US Federal government takes about 25% of my income. The equivalent salary (US 103K, UK 68K) results in nearly a third (22K) going to the British government. I'll keep my money thank you.

"You don't know what you are talking about and should probably shut up now."

Same to you regarding the NHS.

B) who says imperialism is bad?
Anyone with a brain.

"On a final note, the US Federal government takes about 25% of my income."

And spends it on better bombs to drop on villages of children

@hecks ... it's a joke. Many people around here - those against Obama's healthcare reform - threatened to defect to Canada in order to get around the tax, obviously without doing any research because Harper's plan is literally the same as Obama's.

@Draug ... you know who has the highest literacy rate in the world? Cuba. Why? They spend their tax money on education, resulting in the lowest student - teacher ratio. On the other hand, the United States spends five time more on wars than they do on education. If our tax dollars were put into the right places, they'd be okay, but hey, they're not.

I'm all for cutting back on military spending, but that has shit to do with gun control and even less shit to do with "free healthcare" and the fact that the socialists in Europe tax their citizens 30-50% more than the US does.

And their emergency, life-saving surgeries cost 10000000% less than those in the US do.

Impossible. It may cost the citizen having the surgery nothing out of their after tax paycheck, but someone somewhere is paying for the equipment, facility, and staff (taxpayers, including the aforementioned patient). But I would rather pay money out of my pocket (not much as that is why I pay insurance premiums) and know I will live to see that life saving surgery rather than be put on a waiting list and die while I wait.

Lol the "socialists in Europe"

I don't think people should knock free healthcare just because they are crap and inefficient at providing it, that just goes to highlight the poor management and processes employed.
The concept of free healthcare (especially emergency healthcare) relating to need and not wealth is a very fundamental one. No need to criticise something just 'cos you're rubbish at it..

We have free education that is a massive shithole and nobody complains. We are going for free healthcare, an even more basic right than education, and half the country wants to pick up their AKs and storm the White House... it's a party in the USA all right.

Actually, Nigee, on that I can agree. The idea of community provided emergency/basic necessity care (even a certain limited wellness care) has a net positive potential. It's just that nobody seems to have been able to implement it in an efficient and net positive manner.

Aside from France.

That's too much 0's bo!

LOL this is an active thread, I read through it before posting but now there's way more to read through :)

Actually, bo, plenty of people complain about our free education. Try reading a conservative newspaper/magazine or watching the conservative news outlets and you will see those calling for the end of the Dept of Edu at the Federal level.

@ SYnapse

"Bo come to the UK, we're not completely retarded to let our citizens own anti-aircraft cannons"

Most anti-aircraft "cannons" that I am aware of are A) obsolete and B) 20mm or more. American citizens cannot own anything more than .50 caliber (with the exception of weapons designed and used for hunting, such as 12 gauge shotguns or large-bore dangerous game rifles)

The stupidity and ignorance of American law and culture in your posts is truly astounding.

If your life is at stake, you don't want to worry about a $100,000 tab.

@Draug ... the government doesn't. I would love to be rid of public education. Compared to small schools and good teachers, public education is a massive clusterfuck.

Lets break the costs of a 10 hour life-saving operation. One working day for doctors and nurses.
Staff - $10,000
Equipment - $1,000
Heat, Light, electricity - $100

Anything else, so how can operations cost so much? Sounds like someone is getting ripped off.

@Bo - I don't worry about a $100,000 tab. My insurance has a maximum out of pocket of $1250 per person or $2500 per family per year. So even if the wife and I were both in a violent major car accident and had to have all kinds of stuff done to us, or we both came down with cancer and had to go through costly chemo in the same year, I would only pay $2500 out of pocket.

See, you don't know as much as you think you know about life and reality. Now do you?