Health Care
The Left believes universal healthcare is a right. They support President Obama's passage of the Affordable Care Act (PPACA), aka ObamaCare. The middle are afraid of ObamaCare because they don't know what's in it, it means more taxation and higher federal debt, but they are equally afraid of skyrocketing healthcare costs. The Right believes that healthcare is an individual choice just like buying a home and the individual should control their personal healthcare decisions. Therefore, the Right believes PPACA (ObamaCare) is a misguided attempt at Socialism and should be repealed. The Right also believes the US cannot afford such a program when other countries are trying to relieve themselves of their previously instituted universal healthcare programs, and, under its current design more people will just opt out so it does not help access. Because ObamaCare is a federal program, costs will certainly rise in the form of both taxes to pay for it and the services it provides. The individual mandate was believed to violate the Constitution, but on June 28, 2012, SCOTUS issued an opinion which affirmed ObamaCare as a tax and as such was allowable under the Constitution. The fight now returns to the political arena. A very good healthcare blog where you can follow Healthcare and ACA issues can be found here. Below, and in the associated sub-categories, you can follow the arguments on both sides.

The Microbiome Makeover

3/15/21
from The Wall Street Journal,
3/14/21:

It has gotten harder for people to get the needed exposure to good microbes—and the pandemic hasn’t helped. Here, eight ways scientists are working to restore this essential biological system.

As populations have moved into cities, starting with the Industrial Revolution, they have lost exposure to the microbes in soil, dirt and animals often found in rural areas. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 and society’s increasing use of antibiotics has further disrupted microbiomes, scientists say. Children who take antibiotics early in life face a higher risk of child-onset asthma, celiac disease, obesity, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions, studies show. The heavy use of antibacterial cleaning products over the past few decades has also disrupted the microbiome and immune system development, scientists say. Birth by caesarean section—necessary in many cases—may also deprive babies of helpful microbes they would get from a vaginal birth.

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