October 22, 2012 Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough During the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama made a claim against Mitt Romney that has been ringing in my ears ever since. Speaking on the topic of health care, Obama said that Romney would leave people "At the mercy of private insurance." The implication of course is that Obama will protect people from the big, mean insurance companies, and his own plan, Obamacare, is the more compassionate way. Supporters of government health care, and that is what Obamacare will morph into, love to make the insurance industry out to be the boogeyman. Obama's premise only make sense if you believe that government bureaucrats are so much better at serving the public than for profit enterprises. Anyone who has ever been to the MoT for a new driver's licence knows better. Current average wait time in Ottawa for an MRI is 259 days. If you are willing to pay $800 the private MRI clinic in Hull will take you this week. I would certainly like to have a dual care option in this country, but if you can't afford the private insurance in the USA, you are truly screwed too. I have friends in Oregon that lost the house they lived in for over twenty years because although they had medical coverage, it was insufficient to cover the catastrophic medical situation they faced. Not many people in this country lose their house or life savings because of illness or accident. On the