<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">On Sun, Jan 11, 2026 at 10:02 AM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:</span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…Per capita Canada pays about $6000 a year on healthcare and Canadians have a life expectancy of 82.9 years, the USA pays nearly $15,000 a year on healthcare and Americans (who are members of the same species as Canadians)…</span></b></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>Same species, ja.  But there are important differences. </font></i></span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>Differences strong enough<span class="gmail_default" style=""> for you to ignore the fact that 47 other countries are <u>much</u> better at handling things that relate to health care then the US is? </span> </b></font></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>When citing the life expectancy statistics, we should filter out murders,</font></i></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>That wouldn't be necessary if we copied Canadians not only in the way they handle healthcare but also in the way they filter out bad gun laws.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span> </b></font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…1) How on earth can charging Americans <u>and only Americans</u> ridiculously high prices for drugs prevent foreign companies ….<br></span></b></span><blockquote> </blockquote></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><i><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><u></u><u></u></font></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><u></u> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span></span>we know that drug companies charge a lot for their products here</font></i></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font size="4" style="" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b style="">Yes</b></font></div><div><i><font size="4" face="georgia, serif"> </font></i></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>and we know why:</font></i></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font size="4" style="" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>Yes.</b></font></div><div><br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>the market will bear it. </font></i></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"></span><span class="gmail_default" style="">Yes. </span>And we know why the <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">US </span>market will bear it but the market will <span class="gmail_default" style="">NOT</span> bear it anyplace else<span class="gmail_default" style="">, because the US is the only country in the world that refuses to negotiate with drug companies over prices. </span><span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span> </b></font></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">></span>…<span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><b>2) … Even our quack Secretary Of Health is not crazy enough to approve a drug whose composition and manufacture is kept secret ..... or at least I don't think he's that crazy….<u></u><u></u></b></span></span></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>So… streamline the drug approval process. </font></i></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>Sure but that advice is so vague as to be useless<span class="gmail_default" style="">. But I have advice that is not vague and it has been proven to work, <u>just copy what other countries have done</u>. </span> </b></font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…<b>3) Many of the world's most popular drugs, such as the weight loss drug Ozempic<span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault">, were developed outside of the USA by foreign companies, and yet those drugs still cost much more in the USA than they do anywhere else….<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif" style=""><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>Isn’t that crazy?  Fentanyl and cocaine somehow get here, yet we can’t import foreign Ozempic?  <br></font></i></span></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>We can import Ozempic, but unlike every other country in the world the US can't negotiate with the Danish company Nordisk on pricing. Now<span class="gmail_default" style=""> <u>THAT</u></span> is crazy.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span>Hmm,<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span>I just had a thought, maybe all this Greenland business is just a front and the real reason Mr. I lowered Drug Prices By 1600 Percent wants to go to war with NATO ally Denmark is because of Ozempic and the fact that he doesn't like fat people even though he himself is fat.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><span class="gmail_default" style=""><br></span></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><span class="gmail_default" style="">You might be interested to hear what this <u>REPUBLICAN</u> Senator thinks about Greenland and the shabby way the US has treated a loyal ally like Denmark: </span></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><span class="gmail_default" style=""><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b><br></b></font></span></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><span class="gmail_default" style=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyzzj_a7Tnw" style=""><font size="4" style="" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b> 'I'm sick of stupid!' | Republican Thom Tillis' SCATHING message to Stephen Miller</b></font></a></span></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…<b>The real reason drug prices are so ridiculously high in the USA is because every developed country on this planet, <u>with the exception of the USA</u>, uses their government's bargaining power to negotiate drug prices, and that gives them enormous leverage. But in the USA the law specifically forbids Medicare, the largest drug purchaser, from negotiating drug prices….<u></u><u></u></b></span></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span><font face="georgia, serif">OK, so elect representatives who run on the platform of changing that.</font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><b>Great idea,<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> so why do Republicans oppose allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies like every other country in the world does? </span></b></font></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p></div></div></div></blockquote><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></b><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">></span>…<span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault"> </span>Therefore the drug companies are able to say to Americans, <u>and only to Americans</u>, "pay me or die"….</span></b></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>Well sure, but Americans have the option of going overseas for medical treatment, or Canada, or Mexico. </font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>I don't feel I must slavishly make <span class="gmail_default" style="">lame </span>excuses for a political ideology even when a policy it<span class="gmail_default" style="">'s</span> advocating very clearly doesn't work<span class="gmail_default" style="">,</span><span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span>therefore I don't think "<i>if you don't like it here then move</i>" is an effective rebuttal to the charge that<span class="gmail_default" style=""> </span>the US healthcare industry<span class="gmail_default" style=""> is ineffective</span>, or <span class="gmail_default" style="">that </span>the Electoral College system<span class="gmail_default" style=""> is imbecilic</span>, in fact I don't think it's an effective rebuttal against <span class="gmail_default" style=""><u>ANYTHING</u> </span>.</b></font><div><br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…  In 2014, just before the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) took effect<span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault">,</span> 48 million Americans were uninsured, by 2016, only 27 million <span class="m_-6013532820185006100gmaildefault">were </span>uninsured….</span></b></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span><font face="georgia, serif">How many are uninsured now? </font></i></span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>Because of the expiration of the ACA premium tax credits it<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">'s</span> estimated that between 3.8 and 7.3 million people will lose all health insurance in 2026, and millions more will have to get by with significantly reduced coverage. Meanwhile a man who doesn't know how to dance gets a gold plated ballroom.</b></font><br><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>…Obamacare wasn't the wholesale restructuring that our healthcare system so desperately needs, but it was certainly better than nothing…..</span></b></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>So why didn’t they do wholesale restructuring in 2009, when they had the chance?<br></font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><font size="4" face="tahoma, sans-serif"><b>The Democrats tried to do just that but they couldn't shut down the Republican filibuster in the Senate. On July 7, 2009: Al Franken was finally sworn in after the Minnesota Supreme Court certified his election, so that should've given the Democrats the 60th seat needed to stop a filibuster but it didn't because Democrat Ted Kennedy was absent and couldn't vote because he was near death with brain cancer. He died on August 25.<span class="gmail_default" style=""> And </span>on January 19, 2010<span class="gmail_default" style=""> a </span>Republican won a special election in Massachusetts to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">.</span></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-6013532820185006100"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="m_-6013532820185006100WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt"><i style=""><font face="georgia, serif"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>if the federal government doesn’t balance its budget<span class="gmail_default" style="">...</span></font></i></span></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Yeah yeah I know, the sky will fall.  By the way,<span class="gmail_default" style=""> o</span>n January 8 your favorite president said<span class="gmail_default" style=""></span> he would ask Congress for a $1.5 trillion defense budget for the next fiscal year<span class="gmail_default" style="">,</span> this would <span class="gmail_default" style="">be</span> <u>a 66 percent increase over the 2026 defense budget that Congress just authorized</u>.</b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b><br></b></font></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><a href="https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/trumps-15-trillion-defense-budget-should-not-come-surprise"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b>Trump’s $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget</b></font></a></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><a href="https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/trumps-15-trillion-defense-budget-should-not-come-surprise"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b></b></font></a><span class="gmail_default" style=""><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="4"><b>John K Clark</b></font></span><br><div><br></div></div></div>