but after last week I decided to pay no attention to polls.  They're clearly crap.  Too many people from the media and other organizations are trying to manipulate this election.  So, I do like seeing those numbers but I have to take them with a big grain of salt :)

I want Edwards to stay in for the long haul.  I hope he means it when he says he will.

Clinton and Obama have pumped into Nevada those numbers are somewhat shocking!

these numbers are not on pollster.com and I have a hard time believing it is that close.

my son generally nods right off...my daughter? It's very, very unusual for her to nap. I generally try to have some quiet time activities for her.

I would make a "safe room"  No electrical cords, no tiny things.  I would sleep across the door and he would play quietly.
Sleep deprivation is a means of torture.

when Kerry proposed that all Americans have access to the same health care as our Political Class, during their national debate.

I was so shocked, and couldn't believe that didn't end his candidacy!

What? Only the Aristocrats get health care, and it's too expensive for we peasants who pay their bills?

That's basically what Bush was saying. Everything since then has followed that pattern.

He told us in that one phrase who he was, and what he thought of us:

Let us eat cake, my fellow Americans. Let us eat cake.....

I actually think that Edwards public/private idea is pretty brilliant the more I think about how tough a nut this healthcare issue is to crack.  As much as I'd like to outlaw private health insurance all togeher (in my more irrational moments at least), I don't think that is possible.  Regulating the industry would be subject to change with every Congressional term.  So the only other option is to provide competition in their "free market".

in Canada the insurance rates are even lower than $172 although they don't cover quite as much as what is in Edwards plan.  They don't cover dental but do cover mental health.  So I suspect that insurance rates will be much more affordable with Edwards plan.

Short :) post from Germany here.

We do have publicly owned (no profit) health care funds and privately owned (for profit) health care companies.
Heavily regulated and competing against each other.

Guess what, you can force private health care companies to lower their premiums if they have to really compete.
You don´t even need single payer for it.
(Mind you, I´m not saying that single payer won´t be the best solution anyway.)

$650 a month is too high.
$172 probably is too low especially if it includes family members.

I am privately insured in Germany.
Around $300 per month. No deductions, nothing excluded (teeth, eyes etc.).

Premium depends on the age you enter private insurance. The younger you are, the lower the entrance premium. Makes sense because younger people don´t need health care that much. And they are required by law to put at least 10% of your premiums into a lookbox. To pay for your probable health care expenses once you´re a senior.
Another part of that $300 is the disability/home care insurance.
(That´s not social security disability pension. It´s payment for home care - up to a limit - if you are disabled. Accident, age whatever.)

Do I even have to mention that they can´t throw me out?

If I don´t need it for a year, I get a months payment back. Two years, two months. Up to, not used for three years, a three months payment back.

And they pay 210% of what the publicly owned funds pay to doctors. Which makes us very popular with doctors. :)

What I´m trying to say...
In Germany private (for profit) health insurance companies (heavily regulated) can - give the same coverage - pay doctors better than publicly owned health funds - and can still make a profit.

Something is really wrong in the US of A.

and just to be clear - my daughter is "on the spectrum", but she doesn't have severe autism, just a speech delay.

But yes - it's important to recognize that this is a lifetime condition, and like so many differently abled folks we need proactive plans that address their needs while continuing to move them into - and not isolate them from - society.

I'm very glad the Edwards plan does just that.

We got rain.  Blecchh.