The Obama Shimmer & The Guvment

[poltergasm]

1. I wish Obama would just admit he was wrong about the Iraq surge. Just say, "I should've voted for it, because it was the right thing to do then, just as it was the right thing to do when this foolish war was started more than five years ago

Comments

[bajatierra]

No, the right thing to do would have been to not get involved in the first place. As soon as the U.S. leaves Iraq, the Kurds will attempt to peel off (and Kurdistan is a great idea, frankly), and the Shias and Sunnis will get down to warrin'. Without a brutal dictator or a foreign occupier to keep Iraq welded together, it's going to be tough to get the coalition government to hang together.

The only difference now post-surge is it's easier to declare victory. Which is pure propaganda, of course.

[poltergasm]

Of COURSE not getting involved in the first place was the right thing to do, but the surge has "worked" insofar as it has reduced American and Iraqu casualties, and allowed for the quickened training of Iraqi police and militias.

[wisdomlingers]

I'll be the first to say that universal health care will shaft my family. My kids use a LOT of health care. Between what I pay and what (our very very VERY good) insurance pays, the total is well in excess of 50,000 per year. That will all change when UHC comes into play. UHC plans will mandate MINIMUM coverages, pertaining mostly to chronic conditions, illnesses such as cancers, and preventive check-ups. As employers' struggle to stay financially viable, they will drop services that are beyond the minimum coverages and those subsidized by the government. That will leave a lot of people stranded. (In my situation, I would imagine a lot of our drugs not being covered, speech/occupational therapies, etc). Even given that knowledge, I still think UHC is going to be the only way to fix our health care system.

Of course, health care is completely back-burnered until the financial crisis is solved, so this discussion is probably a waste of bandwidth. I can't even remember the last health care story I read....