Now bear with me on this one because it would be a monumental task to pull it off but let's think outside the box and call the Libertarian bluff.

The argument of the other side follows the Libertarian ideal that it's government's fault that the private sector cannot be efficient in giving us affordable and quality health care. Anyone with more than 2 functioning neurons can clearly see that it's the current government interaction in programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, aid to universities to train health care professionals, grants for medical research, etc. that allows any health care entity to be so profitable and available to the rest of us. Of course to so much of our electorate, that concept of us living in a country already heavily dependent on socialized medicine is beyond their ability to grasp.

So how about taking it all away from them for at least a short period of time? Instead of pushing for some watered-down governmental program that will take years before people understand the advantages, why not instead do or threaten exactly the opposite?

Propose legislation that does away with Medicare and Medicaid, removes all forms of governmental assistance in the health care field including providing health insurance to the millions of governmental workers. For that matter, include in the law a provision that forbids any organization or business from providing health insurance coverage to their employees. Stop all governmental grants to research and education in any medical area. If a person wants to utilize a doctor they have to pay cash for the services or contract privately with some health insurance company. Emergency rooms will no longer have to see any person that can't pay.

Give this country a taste of a Libertarian paradise.

Here comes reality though. Of course we could never get a proposal like this passed. It'd be tough to even get the bill heard in Congress. Nobody would be stupid enough to sponsor such an outrageous idea would they? Maybe Kucinich would do it if he got out of bed on the wrong side one morning. Even if you gave it some expiration date and labeled it as a social experiment, you'd still be laughed off the floor of the House or Senate.

But just maybe this notion needs to be part of our dialogue as a big "what if?". Put less effort into showing the positives of a system that seems to get its definition rewritten every five minutes. I follow the debate daily and have no clue what it is we want to push through. The average American has no patience for the complex pros and cons of that argument. They'll instead just go with what's easy. If they have adequate insurance, it's hard for them to show empathy to the people they don't associate with that are living the nightmare. Of course we know that continuing down the road we're on, the greed of the health insurers will bring that nightmare to all Americans.

So maybe it's time instead to scare the hell out of them. Start showing ads that lay out my Libertarian scenario. In between the great American Idol karaoke bouts, insert some commercials that show America without the socialistic backbone that sustains us all. Put them at the door of the emergency room holding their child with a severe gash to the head and being turned away because they can't afford the minimum thousand dollar downpayment just to be seen. Give them images of their elderly grandmother pushing a shopping cart on the street because she has been bankrupted with expensive private health care. Show the caravan of cars lined up at the borders as they go into Canada or Mexico to get affordable drugs or services.

Let them clearly see that this is what the other side envisions for their future, a world where only the wealthy can afford medical care and the rest of us are on our own.

I don't know why I woke up this morning with this idea in my head. Maybe it was too many beers last night and the pit in my upset stomach reminded me that as of today I could have still gone to the doctor had I really hurt myself but there's no guarantees in the future that option will be available to me.

It really doesn't matter. The health care debate is constantly working in my brain and it's horribly frustrating. I keep coming back to the fact that although our nation eventually gets it right on political and social issues, the electorate is awfully slow on the uptake, easily led by unscrupulous leaders that prey on their fears.

I'd prefer our side doesn't use those tactics but maybe this is just too important and too timely to play nice. Michael Moore gave us a taste of this tactic in his film "Sicko". Why aren't we seeing this film aired on prime time television during this debate? It would be hard-pressed to for it compete for ratings against the normal drivel we seem to flock to so we'd need some money to force its showing.

There have to be some of us within this community that have video production skills able to produce some good hard-hitting commercials that could act as a two-by-four to the American electorate heads. We certainly have the collective ability to raise the cash to get them aired. How about it? I'd love to hear ideas.