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[huckabmm]

The Obama administration confirmed Monday that it will soon ease some restrictions on travel to Cuba by Americans and on the remittances they send to relatives on the island.

- Washington Times

What do you think: Has the US embargo done what it was designed to do? Should it be rescinded for all US citizens, not just Cuban-Americans? Have you or would you go to Cuba despite the various human rights violations: here, and here?

[big_red_truck]

The "cost" of losing 2 days of work to get healthcare is far greater than the benefit of it being free.

To you, yes, but to someone who can't afford to pay it no matter how cheap it is, it's priceless.

Well, I ask you. All this happened in Porto Seguro. Don't you think it would have been a bit faster in Rio or Salvador?

Ahh...now we can get into the upper/lower class discussion. To answer Martin, in Rio(not sure about Salvador), going to the government clinic would have taken just as long. But in the larger cities, you have the option of going to a "private" clinic in which you pay for the medical care and you get it quickly (and according to my Brasilian coworkers, the quality is better). There isn't the option in most of the smaller cities and towns so everyone has to either go and waste a lot of time at the local clinic, or travel to a larger city. So if you live in a small city or town, it's very difficult to climb the financial ladder if you have to take 2 or 3 days to try to get into see a doctor at the government clinic.

And to Louise, I am reminded that "You get what you pay for". The quality of the care at the government clinics are "adequate" at best. If any of the Brasilians I work with get sick or get injured, they fly to Curitiba or Sao Paulo for treatment. They refuse to go to the government clinics or hospital in Tres Lagoas because they've seen the mistakes that have been made. But they COULD use the government clinics and hospitals if they chose too.

From what I've seen from friends in the US, if you go to the hospital, and you really can't pay, the hospital eats the costs. The hospital prices this in accordingly. So those that can pay subsidize those that can't. In socialized healthcare, even if you could pay, you don't have to. So someone with money can get the government to pay for what they could afford on their own. Or they can pay extra if they want to. How is that any different than what the US has now except that it's one more expense the government taxes us for?

Oh and one more thought...we've seen how well governments do at governing...do you really want it to be in charge healthcare? (I don't think the lawyers should be in charge of healthcare either as it currently is in the US...but that's another topic entirely)

P.S. I'm not a Republican, I'm a libertarian...I'd prefer the government to stay out of most everything!

[mmbcross]

now we can get into the upper/lower class discussion.

This would be fine if there were just two classes. Regrettably most of us are sandwiched in the "middle" classes, and we are getting shafted by the other two classes.