{"id":40582,"date":"2025-03-26T13:07:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=40582"},"modified":"2025-03-26T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:07:44","slug":"oh-canada-newsom-could-tell-trump-that-the-51st-state-has-free-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/oh-canada-newsom-could-tell-trump-that-the-51st-state-has-free-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh Canada! Newsom could tell Trump that the 51st state has free health care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The governor wants to reach out to the right wing. How about offering to import Canada&#8217;s health-care system?<a href=\"https:\/\/48hills.org\/author\/joelschechter\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/48hills.org\/author\/joelschechter\/\">JOEL SCHECHTER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MARCH 24, 2025 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>California\u2019s governor recently engaged in podcast dialogues with ultra-Conservative Republican Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Charlie Kirk.&nbsp;Some say it\u2019s part of Newsom\u2019s campaign to win the Democratic nomination for President in 2028. But Gavin Newsom can and has to do better than that if he wants to demonstrate his talent for navigating the political spectrum and&nbsp;please his own state en route to election as the next president of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/48hills.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-at-2.41.52%E2%80%AFPM-1024x502.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-198435\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Red, but not Republican<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While Donald Trump is calling for an American takeover of Canada,&nbsp;and wants to make our northern neighbor the 51<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;state, he has gone about it the wrong way.&nbsp;Or so Newsom ought to say.&nbsp;Although I\u2019ve not been paid by Newsom for writing a speech, and I seek no personal gain by offering him this advice, I can see him winning considerable praise if he calls a press conference and announces:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Ladies and gentlemen, friends of all genders,&nbsp;you\u2019ve heard the White House propose to make Canada the 51<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;state in our union,&nbsp;but I\u2019m going to do more than talk about it.&nbsp;This afternoon I am asking state legislators to enact a new universal healthcare plan that is the same as Canada\u2019s. California is going to take Canada\u2019s health care system as its own, create one just like it here,&nbsp;and set an example for the rest of the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>As the first state with Canada\u2019s universal health care, we\u2019ll show the White House how it\u2019s done.&nbsp;Canada\u2019s publicly funded healthcare system, mostly free services, will soon be available across California. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>I understand a few cities in our state already have decent health plans.&nbsp;Healthy San Francisco, which former Sup. Tom Ammiano and his supporters enacted, is one of the few, if any municipal health care systems that seeks to provide some level of universal care. But soon our whole state will benefit from a system that should be started in all 51 states. &nbsp;We can make America great again, at least in its health care, by taking Canada\u2019s example.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, the current occupant of the Oval Office in Washington will protest. \u201cWe\u2019re eliminating government programs, not starting them! RFK Junior isn\u2019t going to like this! He\u2019d be here himself to say so, but he\u2019s too busy trying to find a vaccine-free cure for bird flu!\u201d&nbsp;Trump could cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After inviting Donald Trump to discuss their difference of opinion in a podcast,&nbsp;Newsom can explain to the president that if he wants Canada,&nbsp;he\u2019s going to have to take its health plan, too. They\u2019re inseparable, and that\u2019s a good place to begin the takeover, because most Americans would welcome free healthcare, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut it will cost them!&nbsp;Universal healthcare in Canada is paid through taxes,\u201d&nbsp;Trump complains after RFK Jr. rushes in and passes him a note with that information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMr. President,\u201d the governor replies, \u201cif you\u2019ll want my advice, every state in America can afford to take over Canada\u2019s health plan; it will cost much less than privatized medical care, and&nbsp;drugs will cost less. And you can have the first installment of the plan paid by a famous, wealthy Canadian citizen.&nbsp;You know Elon Musk is Canadian! He owes America a lot of back taxes he should have paid on Tesla and Space X earnings. And you can pay the rest with those exorbitant tariff fees you\u2019ll collect on Canadian imports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump:&nbsp;And I thought Musk was a South African Apartheid baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newsom: He\u2019s Canadian by birth. Maybe that\u2019s why he hasn\u2019t been paying taxes for most of his profits in the United States.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sponsored link<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Help us save local journalism!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Every tax-deductible donation helps us grow to cover the issues that mean the most to our community. Become a 48 Hills Hero and support the only daily progressive news source in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/48hills.org\/about\/support-donate\/\">Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump: He\u2019s already given me about $290 million, I can\u2019t say anything bad about him, not at those rates. And he\u2019s spending millions more to influence an election in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newsom: &nbsp;Ask him to buy the Canadian health plan for California, and start America\u2019s takeover of Canada.&nbsp; I might even buy a Tesla if Musk contributes enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump:&nbsp; I\u2019ll sell you mine, it\u2019s red, and hardly ever driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newsom:&nbsp;I prefer my state\u2019s limo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump:&nbsp; I like limos too. &nbsp; like your way of thinking, Gavin, it\u2019s not perfect (only mine is); but&nbsp;how would you like to be the next Secretary of State?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Joel Schechter has written several books on parody.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The governor wants to reach out to the right wing. How about offering to import Canada&#8217;s health-care system? By JOEL SCHECHTER MARCH 24, 2025 (48hills.org) California\u2019s governor recently engaged in podcast dialogues with ultra-Conservative Republican Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Charlie Kirk.&nbsp;Some say it\u2019s part of Newsom\u2019s campaign to win&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/oh-canada-newsom-could-tell-trump-that-the-51st-state-has-free-health-care\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40583,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40582\/revisions\/40583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}