Interesting piece by American-born British journalist Janet Dailey on

American optimism vs. Old World negativity.

I think she’s basically wrong, though. Look at the things she says: “I

cannot imagine, for example, any American politician saying that all the

country’s hospitals should be owned by the state…” She may be correct to

say that no U.S. politician would suggest this out loud, but it is

nevertheless the case, or very nearly. NY City’s Health & Hospital

Corporation is 59 percent funded by Medicaid and 20 percent by Medicare.

For private hospitals here the numbers are 26 and 37 percent. (And Britain

has private hospitals, too.) The U.S. is going in the British direction

much faster than Britain is going in ours. Or maybe that’s just my Old

World pessimism showing through…..