"i know I do not want our government taking an active role in running my healthcare".

Spoken as I would expect of an American. I am glad to see you retain your distrust of centralised administration and the value for money of state taxation. I always think of your society as "sink or swim", whereas European social models tend to reward "failure" through handouts too readily. I would be interested in the number of "aliens" the NHS treats versus the US healthcare system. I suspect we would be treating more despite the difference in GDP.

Neil.

P.S. Last time I was in the US the biggest disappointment I had was the number of "fuel efficient" Jap small sedans you guys drove. Come on, where are the Thunderbirds, Camero Z28 and 6 litre Firebirds I saw Burt Reynolds drive in the movies.

Believe me your gas is cheap compared to ours so I can only believe you are being tight