Shamu
I wish we could tattoo that onto Obama's forehead.
I really don't mind immigration, but I want it to be very selective immigration. If the person does not bring something positive to the table send them away and tell them to go fix their own country. Right now we seem to operate like a charitable homeless shelter, just walk right in and we will care for you and feed you.
Don't even get me started on illegal immigration.
BTW, USA health care is not much different from Canada or England except that you must be poor and useless. If you have nothing you get everything free. If you work hard and saved your money medical care and old age can take back every penny you ever earned.
The Aussies had the system you suggested, where you had to have a resident as a sponsor and bring something to the table. For some strange reason they don't have a large immigrant problem (of course it helps when you don't have two of the longest unguarded borders in the world where people can basically walk across them.
I remember leaving a ship in Australia in '81. They escorted us right from the ship to the airport and never let us out of their sight until the plane door closed - that's the way to treat people who aren't supposed to be staying in your country. Their attitude is - if you don't like it - then don't come here.
On the health care front. I have experienced the British version of Socialized medicine as well as the US one. I know my fellow countrymen and chime in, but the big problem I saw with the British version was that it was run by the government, meaning it was totally fucked up, bloated and expensive. Case in point - my mum had bad knees. In the US they would have sent her for MRIs on them then done a little arthroscopic surgery and she might still be walking today. It took over two years just to get the appointment for the MRI was she was considered low urgency. By the time they did look in her knees they were totally shot and required replacing, which is a lot more expensive than the arthro surgery. Plus she now had a real dodgy hip from the knee problems to the point where now she lives in a nursing home as she is not mobile.
This was almost 15 years ago. I am assuming it didn't get any better.
Sounds like the Canadian version is a lot better