Ah, yes, America. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, stoic in the face of adversity, populated by rugged individualists who want nothing to do with big gubmint.

Or so goes the tale told by the American Enterprise Institute.

The reality, as The New York Times again reveals today, is that the nation wants universal health care, and doesn't mind raising taxes to pay for it. We are, in short, a nation of flag-burning commie hippies screaming for socialism.

More after the fold.

A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

While the war in Iraq remains the overarching issue in the early stages of the 2008 campaign, access to affordable health care is at the top of the public’s domestic agenda, ranked as far more important than immigration, cutting taxes or promoting traditional values. Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with President Bush’s handling of the issue, despite his recent initiatives, and 62 percent said the Democrats — not the Republicans — were more likely to improve the health care system.

Americans showed a striking willingness in the poll to make tradeoffs for a better health care system, including paying as much as $500 more in taxes a year and forgoing future tax cuts.

And which Democratic Presidential contender is campaigning on this issue? Why, John Edwards, of course.

Meanwhile, the last person to try to create universal healthcare - and make a tremendous hash out of it - is one Hillary Rodham Clinton. As you may have heard, she is also running for President; however, the public, probably remembering said hash, doesn't trust her to handle healthcare.

36 percent of Americans said they had confidence in the ability of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the New York [sic] Democrat, to “make the right decisions on health care,” while 49 percent said they were uneasy about it.

The next President will have a chance to create a functioning healthcare system that covers all Americans. If we're lucky, that President will be John Edwards; this because his plan amounts to expanding Medicare to cover all Americans, instead of just all Americans over 65.

We can do this.