Health Care Deep Thought: $1 Trillion

Jeff Alworth

Opponents of health care proposals claim that it costs too much, and indeed, a trillion dollars is a lot of money.  But it's not an extraordinary amount, nor an amount previous presidents were forbidden from spending.  In fact, here are a few of Dubya's big ticket items:

$1.3 trillion - tax cuts for the rich
$1.3 trillion - Iraq war
$1.2 trillion - Medicare overhaul
$700 billion - TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)

Yet a public option's too expensive?

  • Ben (unverified)
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    I love democrats solution to a recession: Massive new government programs and tax increases. But according to Biden, "We have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt"!

    Shouldn't we ensure Social Security doesn't go bankrupt before we create a huge new entitlement program?

    You people screw this up and you can kiss your super-majority goodbye.

  • Bill Bodden (unverified)
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    Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz have estimatee The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More

  • mp97303 (unverified)
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    Ben

    I would guess y'all know from what you speak. The GOP had total control and the voters kicked you to the curb. I believe that Biden's quote was EXACTLY the rationale Schrub et al used for the wall street bailout.

  • Tom Vail (unverified)
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    I enjoy reading BlueOregon. It is fun to see people spend time and effort throwing around the blame. There is plenty of it to spread, in all directions.

    I often wonder why we don't discuss the solutions. The first step with healthcare reform, IMO, will be to define the problem. Our politicians of both stripes are not doing that. They are merely taking up positions that will allow them to satisfy the folks who got them where they are and to keep their current positions of power.

    My current post suggests that defining the problem gets us half way to a solution. Just knowing what is wrong will put us in a better position to discuss answers/solutions.

    We may disagree about what is to be done and how, but we should be able to get a consensus on what's wrong. I would love feedback to mystatement of the problem. I actually listen to both Democrats and Republicans.

  • Bill R. (unverified)
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    @ Tom Vail

    My advice is to quit your spamming.

  • Bill Bodden (unverified)
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    "I often wonder why we don't discuss the solutions. The first step with healthcare reform, IMO, will be to define the problem."

    Where have you been these last few years? There is not A PROBLEM but PROBLEMS that have been blatantly obvious to anyone paying attention. We have close to fifty million people without health care, millions more with poor insurance policies that do not provide adequate care, and almost all people with policies that could get them into bankruptcy if they get the wrong illness and find their policies don't cover them. On top of that Americans pay twice or more what people in other nations pay for health care but get inferior care. This says something about the level of our national intelligence and our moral and ethical standards, and what it says is nothing to be proud of. It also happens that nations with healthy citizens are more productive and better for the national economy.

    The solution? Get a system that will provide all citizens with adequate health care. That is what the debate is about.

  • The Skald (unverified)
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    Tom,

    I don't think you'll find someone that actually wants to read your post, though I did enjoy it - with some reservations. Though I don't think your comment is anywhere near spam, obviously some do. I'll drop in myself to look around your site, it seems worth the visit.

    Cheers.

  • Bill Bodden (unverified)
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    <h2>Strong criticism here of Howard Dean and Obama's health plan.</h2>

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