" ... high-unemployment society that is Europe"
you really should check your facts before making claims;
Europe Unemployment Rate Rises to Highest Since 1999 (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
(highest in a decade is still lower than ours)
But I agree that we may not "effectively reform health care". That is because the Republican party is apparently a fully owned subsidiary of the insurance industry and is determined to block any change whatsoever.
YOU may not have a health care crisis but the 60 million who have no coverage do. The people who think they have coverage until they start to need it and are tossed aside by the insurance company sure do have a crisis. And paying twice as much (yes, literally twice as much) as the Europeans for health care that isnt as good is a really stupid thing to insist on. (Unless you are an insurance company stockholder).
Please dont tell me the nonsense about waiting in lines, as if nobody in the US ever waits for an appointment or has to wait in an emergency room. Also, please spare me the comparisons with the UK which has a system nobody wants to copy. There IS a better way than what we have now, which is why we rank at the same level as Costa Rica in world health care comparisons.
Costa Rica!! That is the level that republicans think we should stay at. How brainwashed can they be? They actually think it is a good thing to pay more than the Canadians do for the EXACT SAME PILLS.
Here is what the Repubs are REALLY afraid of - The American public actually WANTS health care reform and if the Dems give it to them the Republicans will be stuck running for dog catcher for decades. Much better to try to block it or make it so unworkable it fails. Isnt republican political victory more important than health care?