Commentary By Ron Beasley
Below Steve reports
that the same neocons who got us into the failing efforts in
Afghanistan and Iraq are encouraging Obama to continue their failed
dreams.
A little over a month ago I wrote:
There are those, both Democrat and Republican, they say we can't afford universal health
insurance. They also say we can't afford to educate children or repair
the crumbling infrastructure. Well they are right. Why is that when
every other developed nation seems to manage? The answer is pretty
simple - our treasure is being spent on wars we can't win but continue
to fight because a few corporations are making lots of money.
Jeff Leys gives us some numbers for the Healthcare VS Warfare debate.
On Wednesday, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress
on health care. Later this year he will decide whether to deploy
additional troops to the war in Afghanistan, in addition to the 69,000
troops already deployed. The struggle for health care and the struggle
to end warfare are inextricably linked. The cost for substantive
(though imperfect) health care reform as envisioned in the House of
Representatives approach (with the public option) is projected to
average $100 billion per year for the next 10 years. The cost to
continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected to cost
anywhere from $55 to $100 billion a year. Make a few modest reductions
to the baseline military budget and the difference is paid.The choice is clear: healthcare or warfare; the Common Good or Common Destruction.
So we are escalating a war we can't win even if we knew what winning looked like.
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