If the goal is a simple flow chart, then the answer is Single Payer.

Somehow I don't think that's what the Republicans really want.

It's kind of a mystery why the R's would want anything more complex than single payer, because so many of them (so they say) are completely fuddled by the trickiness of progressive tax brackets.

"Math is Hard!"

Vicki beat me to it. We're only compromising and agreeing to the Public Option because folk like Boner *don't like* "simple".

These idiots think that just because they find solace in their beloved stupidity, that everyone likes being ignorant and won't want something that can't be explained in a straight, linear fashion.

The fact that they were able to create a chart should disprove their thesis.....its not complicated, look, even a Republican could figure it out. I wouldn't use that as the selling point, but if the party of no facts and no brains can get a handle on it, we should use the chart to explain the whole thing.

Of course, I'm all for making it really easy for them and going to a single-payer system. Seems like the logical thing to do to help all those businesses that they proclaim to love.

Looking at the chart, I find myself wondering if Republicans have trouble with Milton-Bradley board games.

The crowd of blue people center left seem to be menacingly eying the lady at center right. Clearly, universal health care is dangerous.

oh, gee, you have to be an adult to understand how to get healthcare in the united states...

oh, noes... we're lost...

what a silly, infantile place the united states of america is...

All legislation that comes out of Congress is complicated! Duh!

Would love to see a chart of a defense appropriations, intelligence, or agriculture bill...

Some wiseass in the House Democrats should take the floor with various schematics for a toaster, a can opener, etc. and put them up on an easel and make scary noises. Ohhhh....Democrats want to make your toaster too complicated...eeee...oooo. I'm a ghooost!

actually, someone needs to take the R's chart, but do it in two overlays: all of the boxes and lines that exist without the reform bill and one with just the incremental additions. If you flip it to show only the incremental additions, you realize there is not much complication being added.

the more i looked at their chart, two things jumped out. (1) most of this already exists. (2) if you look just at the new things in isolation, it is hard to get too worked up about them - even using the R's labels, they sound pretty good to me. I suspect most Americans would come to the same two conclusions with a little help from some half-way decent Democratic messaging (I know that is a lot of hope for given the history of Democratic messaging.)

Time for the full court press - Each of these Republican leaders, Boehner and McConnell, need to be forcefully asked time and again what their plan to ensure health care for their constituents will be! I've heard too much no, no, no from the likes of Republicans since November 2008. It is time for them to put up or shut up!

I want to know how Republicans will manifest positive change for our nation - I haven't heard much in regards to this from them as of late!

I want to know how Republicans will up hold the rule of law in light of the most recent revelation that Dick Cheney may have broken the 1947 law establishing intelligence protocols!

I want to know how Republicans will trancend their racialist tendencies to bring more non-white citizens into their big tent!

I want to know if Republicans are for torture as a national policy!

I want to know if Republicans are moral hypocrites, or if they will call for the resignations of those among them who now have no political credibility left!

I want to know if Sen. McCain believes his copper mine is more important than a federal Interior policy put together by the nominees he is blocking form confirmation!

And, I want to know if Republicans can articulate a better message that validates and includes our diverse populace, or if they will die a cold death because of their recalcitrance to our changing society!

Until our media realize we are expecting more than a stale, outdated polemic of left/right, we will not see much effort by its constituent outlets to focus on the above issues, let alone call out Republicans who are merely obstructing our efforts to move forward. -Kevo

Points off for citing Mr. Marshall's misuse of "begging the question." This battle may be lost, but I'm not giving up. Drop it.

Is the GOP chart any more complicated than this?

Rs did the same thing to Hillary. I wrote at the time: let them diagram the current medical care payment system. It'll be just as complicated.

Cripes . . . this is to proper graphic design as a label for Dr. Bronner's soap is to the layout of a classic Coke bottle.

This is an organizational chart, not a flow chart.

I do these from time to time for my boss. This is the worse organization of an organizational chart someone could have done, but I suspect that isn't by chance.

Just look at the Oval labeled 'Labor Dept' the line from it crossed to the other side of the chart. It's a common theme, loads of lines into tiny boxes so it looks cluttered or in this case, complicated.

Notice red = good, and blue = scary.

It's a joke and it I actually had some time, I could clean this up to make it look like an efficiency of government.

The entire purpose of an Organization Chart, it to organize, the purpose of this one is to disorganize.

Vicki got it perfect at #1, but I see a bright future for GOP staff in designing game boards.

One more thing, What does the Vet Admin & Defense Dept have to do with Health Care reform ?

Follow the arrow, they go nothing that has anything to do with the D plan, they are just their to add lines, it's pathetic.

"Better opposition party, please."

Oh, God, no! The Democrats* already have enough trouble with the pitiful, dispirited, disreputable corporatist husk of today's Republican Party. Don't add a better opponent, thank you very much.

Ed

* I don't belong to an organized political party -- I'm a Democrat. [Will Rogers]

In consulting we call this a spaghetti diagram. They are created (almost always in PowerPoint) to emphasize the complexity of system for executives who generally aren't willing to take time to understand the details.

Note that it is a sales tool not an analytical tool.

I'd like to see the legend for this chart. While there are some consistencies (mandates, gov't departments) by and large is jumble of shapes, fonts, and colors.

Any client I put this in front of would be suspicious. And if I couldn't convincingly explain those choices, they'd kick me out the door.

Actually asking Congressman Brady for the legend should be a revealing exercise...

More to the point, if I were to show Boehner a chart about the various international elements that went into invading Iraq in 2003, I suspect he wouldn't be persuaded if I said, "See? It's just too darn complex to bother."

For that matter, if it had detailed what we know now about, for example, Chalabi feeding both the Cheney's special intel group and Judy Miller the same disinformation, it wouldn't cause Boehner and Cheney to think twice, but the American people -- who always had reservations about the idea -- may have realized what a load of bull the Administration and its players were selling.

Yes, I agree with Scott W. It's not flow chart, it sort of describes the relationships between different organizations (minus the health lobbists).

Here's the Republican chart showing how the money flows.

The healthy and unhealthy give to insurers.

The insurers give lobbyists.

The lobbyists give to Congress and investment ops.

Congress creates laws sending the money back 10 fold to the insurers.

The investment ops send money back .10 fold to the insurers.

The healthy and unhealthy give money to the insurers.

That's it.

Intimidating - yes, like their alternate budget plan with no numbers.

They should simply stick to stacking dollar bills to Pluto like before.

Similarly, this explains the GOP's love of "intelligent design". The human body and all of its biological processes and pathways is just so darn complex.

I think it's funny that most of the connections on the chart already exist. Only the green ones and orange ones are new, with the gray path being the bill, and the blue background ones are actually more simple than the current setup.

Hm.

I wonder how complicated an F22 is.

oo hey wow props. this here chart is the most planning i've seen Republicans do since the Iraq war.

Presumably, then, the Republicans would prefer a much simpler chart with a box at the bottom, marked "PEOPLE" and a box at the top, marked "NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE"?

...they wouldn't? That's funny.

CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) may be surprised to learn that they will be reporting to the Defense Department instead of Health & Human Services. Will FDA be assuming responsibility for Iraq under the GOP proposal?

This article has no title. Might I suggest "Chart Attack."