Leaving aside the dubious proposition that government sponsored Universal Health insurance is “goal” of all, where does the $100 billion estimate come from?

The National Coalition on Health Care estimates $1.9 trillion in health care expenditures in 2004. So I’m guessing that any insurance program has to approximate at least that amount …or why would anyone be in the insurance business? And trust me on this, once government gets involved in providing insurance for the uninsured, why would anyone want to offer insurance as a benefit or take it on as a personal expenditure.

Would social security pass today if people could opine on the 15+% payroll tax it imposes? Further, how many of today’s sacred social program cows would pass muster if the taxpayers first saw them broken out on their tax bills?

Of course Iraq hasn’t been cheap but I honestly believe it will ultimately prove a better return on our investment than our cumululative expenditures on HUD, the Dept. of Education or the United Nations have ever.