Flashback: Universal health care — for Iraq..anyone remember?

[shraby]

On the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, let's jump in our trusty little time machine and set the dial to March 3, 2004:

WASHINGTON — Fresh from a two-day weekend visit to Iraq, the Bush administration's top health care official defended the $950 million that will be spent to help Iraq establish universal health care.

An earlier story, from The Washington Post in 2003, also touched on fixing Iraq's broken Pottery Barn of a medical system, which had allegedly languished under Saddam and was further decimated by Shock and Awe:

(snip)

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have a vision for health care in Iraq in which all mothers-to-be receive prenatal care, childhood mortality rates plummet and every person has access to virtually free treatment and medicine through an extensive network of 1,400 renovated hospitals and clinics.
It is a vision that will cost U.S. taxpayers almost $2 billion in the first 18 months, an amount some lawmakers say is too steep, especially when a growing number of Americans cannot afford medical care.
"I certainly understand the need for health care in Iraq," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to shift $5 billion from Iraqi assistance to domestic education, health and construction projects. "This administration has a sense of urgency in Iraq that I don't see here at home. We see hospitals closing and the number of uninsured going up, and yet we don't see any sense of urgency from this administration."

<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/03/20/843547/-Flashback:-Universal-health-care-for-Iraq>

They apparently have it and we in the good old US of A aren't good enough.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Becsause they know it' the most cost effective method to get them healthcare.

We created the problem when we broke the country....having millions more die because of their war/invasion would just add to their war crimes. So what system to put in? A top-down solution that is centralized and easy to manage...or a private insurance model that would add hundreds of millions more, create all kinds of paperwork management problems, and add to the civilian unrest. It was a no brainer. Of course, the same reasons would be applicable here, but Republicans can't have allow this system - it would prove, yet again, that government can be a force of good in our lives and that would ruin their 40 year talking point that 'socialized" medicine is bad. They'd never win another election.

[area51]

2. I remember.

Somehow single-payer is "good enough for the Iraqis", but not good enough for us. Seriously, they deserve to stay alive, but we don't?

Again, our mofoingly stupid govt. can't even figure out that when you allow 100,000 citizens to die each year due to lack of health care, and then make offshoring jobs a high priority, maybe, just maybe, there's not enough tax money from survivors with jobs, to fund your fscking wars of choice.

Nevermind that we're extremely vulnerable to a biological attack, due to our broken health care delivery system.

[shraby]

3. Sickening isn't it?