Hank, the Ryan plan, as I understand it, gives seniors vouchers and sends them out to the insurance market; where they will be denied insurance or sent to a high risk pool that will not be affordable for the vast majority.

All of these people know what the problem is; but appear unwilling to solve it for the long term. Obama's plan (which really is a horrible series of compromises) is what's out there and from my perspective much better than the current system; that limits access. So far all I have heard from the Republicans is let the private market solve the problem. But, isn't that what we have now? Todd's right and you know it; the mandate was a Republican idea and Romney; just a few years ago, said the federal goverment needs to adopt the mandate. Gingrich called it personal responsibility. But, now it is a bad idea. Why??

I agree with your last paragraph and maybe instead of argueing with each other over the internet maybe we should make that one common demand of both parties; get your [Bleeeeep!] together and solve this problem.