I’m really sick of all the fiscal scolds who say that the U.S. can’t pay for health care for its citizens. We can’t afford not to, but almost all the current fiscal scolds cheered when Bush pushed through unfunded tax cuts and unfunded wars:
When the Bush tax cuts sunset at the end of 2010, the previous administration will have left the government holding the bag for well over $2 trillion in lost revenue. The extraordinary debt and deficits accrued during Bush’s tenure have been compounded by the implosion of the financial system. In addition, the estimated eventual costs of the costly, unnecessary, and counterproductive Iraq war are now in the trillions to say nothing of the costs of more than six years of failure in Afghanistan. What have they done for America?
Who was saying that we couldn’t afford it then? Are they the same people who are saying we can’t afford things now?
Where are the fiscal scolds when the war funding bills come up? They were paid for outside the budgeting process, in a continuing funding resolution:
The opaque appropriations process for funding the Iraq war has generally allowed the Bush administration to shield itself from a great deal of scrutiny by the public on the total cost of the war. Congress approved “bridge funding” and emergency spending requests and so the full costs of the war were kept out of the budget. None of the dollar amounts for the funding requests have been included in the Pentagon’s annual operating budget.
So what does the Iraq war really cost? As early as 2006, Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Blimes estimated that the cost of the war could exceed $2 trillion, including health care for veterans and other expenses. The Congressional Budget Office, in 2008, called it a $1 trillion war, but a trillion strikes us as an overly modest estimation today.
I propose a new rule – if you’re a sitting member of Congress you aren’t allowed to call yourself a “fiscal conservative” if you voted for any of the following unfunded programs: 1) Bush’s tax cuts, 2) any funding resolution for Iraq/Afghanistan or 3) Medicare Part D. I think this rules out almost any current member of Congress.