if you're thinking of punishing congress

first, remember what happened last time. in 1994 voters punished them for failing to pass a national health plan. they punished them by voting in a gop majority. nobody in dc dared even talk about universal health care for the next 15 years.

2nd, in case you haven't noticed, the house of representatives has passed a lot of legislation. the gridlock is only in the senate. it's in the senate for two reasons: a) the senate's rules (such as the filibuster) make it possible and b) the gop is determined to make the dems fail, because doing so got them the majority in '94.

3rd, you'll be cutting your nose to spite your face. of the 40 richest nations in the world, we're the only one without universal health care, yet it costs us more per person than in any of the other 39. way more. that's money we could be spending on other things: we could go out more often, take better vacations, buy nicer clothes and cars and houses, and save more for retirement.

speaking of vacations, how come we get just two paid weeks of it each year, while a typical european gets 4 or more weeks?

it all ties together. don't think it doesn't.