> So glad we got that healthcare problem all buttoned up in America over the past six years.

"Politics is the art of the possible." — Otto von Bismarck (attributed)

When one side is opposing a plan it originated, how can anyone make progress?

> But hey let's go spend billions on more wars, bomb the billions in equipment we bought for Iraq and then buy more equipment to replace it for Iraq.

This is only relevant if you have to placate deficit hawks who don't put a priority on medical spending.

Fun coincidence: Bismarck implemented the first welfare state in the history of the world, with sickness, accident and disability insurance and old age pension.

To quote:

     The real grievance of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is not sure that he will always have work, he is not sure that he will always be healthy, and he foresees that he will one day be old and unfit to work. If he falls into poverty, even if only through a prolonged illness, he is then completely helpless, left to his own devices, and society does not currently recognize any real obligation towards him beyond the usual help for the poor, even if he has been working all the time ever so faithfully and diligently. The usual help for the poor, however, leaves a lot to be desired, especially in large cities, where it is very much worse than in the country.

Sorry for the formatting, here is the quote without that scroll bar:

The real grievance of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is not sure that he will always have work, he is not sure that he will always be healthy, and he foresees that he will one day be old and unfit to work. If he falls into poverty, even if only through a prolonged illness, he is then completely helpless, left to his own devices, and society does not currently recognize any real obligation towards him beyond the usual help for the poor, even if he has been working all the time ever so faithfully and diligently. The usual help for the poor, however, leaves a lot to be desired, especially in large cities, where it is very much worse than in the country.

How many wars to we have, our entire global economy is supported by all these wars, I mean ammo has to be made, guns, and that means lots of cashola for the military industrial complex.