Lately, I'm beginning to wonder if we're ever truly going to have universal health insurance .  Now I'm well aware that even folks without coverage will get medical care, thankfully hospitals for the most part are obligated to treat people.  Yet, whether you have insurance or not, the whole sytem is a disaster.  One of the solutions, first coming from the libertarians followed by the conservatives and strangely enough some on the left, is the concept of a consumer-driven health insurance system. Basically, you treat your medical care as you (to borrow the examples I've heard) would buying car insurance or even (I dare say) buying a set of plates.  Here's the problem, if you pick the wrong dinnette set you won't die.

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(The following was cross posted from Economic Populist and Venomopolis.)

I'm a sucker for barbecues, especially good ones.  Normally I'm not a "family" person, but I am a people person.  When it comes to barbecues, though I tend to even go to the ones my family puts out.  This year I hosted, unfortunately the weather was not on my side and being someone into risk management I decided to hold an "indoor bbq." The food, as always, was good, but my other type of appetite was also satisfied, my hunger for news and tid bits

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In 2006, we were lucky that voters held Republicans accountable for Iraq and corruption.   Luck is not the only thing on our side this time. While Republicans usually out-raise us in campaign funding, this election cycle we Democrats have sensed opportunity and reversed the relation.  However, if we are to begin winning elections not by chance but because of our ability to consistently out-fundraise Republicans, we must first understand why, aside from rare, anomalous, instances, Republicans routinely raise more cash than we do.  Upon analysis, the answer becomes glaringly obvious.  

Our money comes largely from the salaries of our wage-earning donors, while Republican money comes largely from the profits wealthy donors earn selling Americans products.  The way to end this major fundraising disadvantage is equally obvious; we need to beat the Republicans at their own game by selling our own products.  The rest of this diary describes how, if we begin now, we can sell enough products to raise several million dollars for Democratic campaigns by October 2008, and if we keep working beyond November, we can raise at least $100-200 million dollars for the 2010 elections.

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