In the health care debate, Andrew Sullivan quotes a reader who is a Canadian living in the States who has a strikiing observation to make:
As a Canadian living in the States, it's been interesting to watch as more and more Americans become aware of their deteriorating healthcare system. For me, it's meant an ever-increasing trickle of people (of broader and broader political perspectives, I might add) who come to me to talk about Canada's system. I begin every conversation the same way: Both systems have their flaws. You'll find unhappy people in both systems. The truest non-empirical test I have is to point out that I have known many people who have lived in both systems (i.e., Canadian and American), and I still have never met a single person who preferred the American one.That might not be convincing to the Republicans since the people who have lived in Canada can't be counted as true Americans, but the pressure for change seems to be only building. These are interesting times.