>>Not necessarily true re: becoming a healthier nation. Yes, we are the fattest nation on Earth but that really shouldn't effect our ability to put a single payer, universal health care policy in play. Obviously major political, economic, and administrative changes are needed.

It would affect it to the degree that a healthier nation would cost less and make medicine more cost effective, therefore making that process of universal healthcare more feasible. Right now, its costs are so high that there's no way to pay for it. It will cost in the trillions. As it stands now with the anticipated health problems of the baby boom generation and the obesity epidemic that seems to growing in our younger generations, the costs will continue to escalate, making the cost of paying for a single payer system that much more out of reach. The literature is out there. Take a look on Medline. Healthier people and public health infrastructures supporting them are a way to ease that burden.

>>It's not that it's impossible, it's just that there are several roadblocks in our way: mainly conservative politicians and insurance companies. And as long as the Republicans hold office, we won't have a single payer system.

But its also cultural. We are a culture of excess. I agree with the points your making, absolutely. but there are other cultural and socioeconomic forces in play here that are very very powerful and like your saying, unacknowledged by our current political powers that be.