Health Care Financing Solved

Reading commentary about health care reform in the US, I am staggered by the unwillingness of pretty much everyone who wrings their hands over the high cost of the proposed proposals (up to $1.6 trillion over 10 years) to look at the most obvious source of funds in the federal budget for the needed funds. That $1.6 trillion comes to $160 billion per year. This country spends almost that much on the unnecessary wars, not to mention the endemic waste and redundancy in the so-called "defense" budget that exceeds $1 trillion a year. I have no doubt that a good budget analyst/program evaluator could carve 10 percent out of that budget without endangering military security one iota. Apparently, that option is not only not on the radar, the radar isn't even in place.

Of course, the hawks and military will object mightily and point to all sorts of potential dangers to protect their budgets, but the reality is that America's pathetically unequal health care system is every bit as dangerous to our national well being as any potential enemy.