In a single payer system, the cost of healthcare drops dramatically.  Yes it's true taxes go up, but at this point?  They're going up anyway.  The economic stimulus our country needs is going to have to be paid for, and we are all going to pay for it.  Combine this with the 30 years this country has frittered away when it should have been building a new energy grid, green technologies, maintaining infrastructure, and so on, and it's clear, the party is over.

And by "the party is over" I'm referring to those artificially low taxes that our conservative friends still think are too high.

I am sick and tired of listening to gloom-and-doom naysayers fiddling about long lines, delays, and taxes while Rome burns.  I have friends who are suffering right now simply because they cannot get the help they need due to lack of coverage.

Single-payer health care works in many countries around the world, some better than others.  I have enough faith in American ingenuity that we can make it work here.  But it does mean (AFAIC) the end (or serious curtailing) of health insurance companies that have risen to wealth on their two core tenets--1. collect premiums, and 2. don't pay benefits.

For those who quake in fear at the notion?  We tried it your way for decades and it sucks.  I'm ready for something new.