Well not really. We're able to pay it. Mind you, Canada had surpluses from 1993-2008. The only reason we have not had surpluses is just because the Canadian government invested the 4% in GM (along with another 4% by Ontario's government) and then Canada's Economic Action Plan, where the government invests directly into infrastructure and such (ie. building/renovating libraries, helping private sector, etc.), in addition to a few other things like small business tax cuts here and there. To be honest, it's paying off. Canada's growth rate was 7% in the first quarter of the year and I'm confident we can get a surplus in 2011 without the need to cut quite as much. Really, you have to accept that there are different government systems in this world. In football analogy, you can't expect to force every team to incorporate a smash-mouth offense when there are other systems like the Air Coryell and the West Coast (Bill Walsh) Offense.
Though you are right, you shouldn't blame that all on healthcare. You should however really limit what you can put into foods, because simply put, the standards of food quality are far too low. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as "I'd rather eat healthy over junk." It should be, but it's not. I realize that not everyone can even afford good-quality foods like I can, and I don't take that privilege for granted. It's just a shame that stuff like corn is subsidized, because it's subsidies like that which make junk food cheaper as a whole. It's quite amazing that if more and more Americans (and even Canadians, Europeans, etc.) eat more nutritional stuff, the need for medication and even healthcare overall can decrease.
