It IS the economy stupid

I came across this political cartoon the other day by Corky Trinidad and it got me to thinking about what this country would be like if all the Iraq war money went to something else.

First, do you know how much money the United States is spending on the war? zFacts has an interesting chart that updates continuously and a few frightening facts. Here is an excerpt from an article at The Coloradoan “The Iraq War is costing more than $400,000 for each troop in the field. We are spending over $240,000 per minute for this war. The war costs each American household $138 per month. By 2017, the United States will have paid $1 trillion in interest on money borrowed to finance the war. This nation deserves better.”

Now, what can you do with $1 trillion dollars? Here are some suggestions from an article in The New York Times :

• Public health: treat every American whose diabetes or heart disease is unmanaged plus a global campaign to immunize millions of children.
• Education: Universal preschool for every three and four year-old child in the U.S.
• Rebuild New Orleans
• Real national security: we could put into place all those recommendations by the 9/11 Commission that haven’t been done

All of this could be done and we’d have some money left over! Or, how about this? Instead of a puny little “economic stimulus” check (my $300 should cover about 3 tanks of gas, if I’m lucky) the government could send every American enough money to REALLY stimulate the economy!

Economics Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard Professor Linda Bilmes have published a book, “The Three Trillion Dollar War.” This book should be must reading for all of us because it details the true costs of the war in Iraq. The war is a legacy that will be with us for several generations as we deal with the debt the nation has incurred and the massive number of wounded veterans that will need continuous medical care.

As a nation we need to wake up and smell the coffee because someone has left the pot on the burner for too long. There is an election coming up in November. Let’s hope we can do some good then.

Affordable Health Insurance

A good friend of mine is recovering from a much needed but complex surgical procedure. While she is facing a bit of time recovering, the surgery has resolved a situation that was causing her considerable pain. My friend is also fortunate in that she has health insurance. For many of us here in the United States having health insurance is a luxury we can’t afford.

I’m one of those people who does not have health insurance. It has been about seven years since I’ve had any - either the company I’ve worked for in the past didn’t offer it or, primarily, because I’m self-employed I can’t afford it. Oh sure, I’ve responded to who knows how many ads for “Affordable Health Insurance” only to find that my home mortgage is less than what they want for useful health insurance. I said useful insurance because you can get a little bit of nothing, and mostly useless insurance, for $100 to $200 per month, but the type of coverage I had years ago working for a corporation generally starts at $500 or more a month.

I’ve also got a friend who moved to Scotland several years ago to attend college. His wife and children moved with him while he works on his degrees. Recently he found out that his oldest son has autism. This is what he said in a recent e-mail to me: “He's [my friend’s son] been getting tons of help thanks to the blessing of universal health care (why this isn't a political no-brainer back home I'll never understand).”

I’ve got to admit the lack of some type of universal health care system is something I’ve been wondering about. My guess is that the pharmaceutical and insurance corporations are keeping their politicians well fed and away from that topic. Besides, as long as members of Congress have lifetime insurance benefits why should they care about people like me?

The United States probably can’t do what most European countries have done, but there has to be a way to make health insurance affordable to the average American. Big corporations get discounts because of the number of employees they have. How about a program that is nation-wide for all of the people like me? Lump us all together and give us a group discount!

Personally, I’d rather have insurance than worry about loosing everything I have to illness.