Only thing I’ll mention about spending is that, while I agree with you about over-spending, I do feel that some government spending is necessary. Right now there are just too many areas where infrastructure changes are needed and I don’t think many companies are willing to shell out the cash necessary to implement those changes. Only way to really convince companies to put forth the investment is to subsidize part of the cost. While I’m sure part of the stimulus bill will help with that there will likely be a bunch of areas that will still need attention. Again. only time will tell.

I think even pharma companies should remain private. However, I do think pharma companies need some offsets to ensure that research is properly funded and that drug trials are done by separate, non-profit labs. The issues surrounding Vioxx seem to indicate an issue with how drug trials and testing are handled. Too many ways to fudge the system.

The only area I think should change dramatically is how everyone in the industry is paid. I don’t think the current private insurance industry works. I would be more happy if there was a separate, non-profit entity in charge of making sure every claim is paid. Basically, it could be a non-profit organization that is semi-regulated by the government and simply processes each claim and makes sure than none of the claims are forged or illegitimate. It’s like a single-payer system except the organization itself isn’t necessarily government controlled and would receive it’s funding much in the same way that insurance companies receive funding now. Kind of a hybrid approach.