Would You Rather Have Healthcare Or A New F-35?
By Thom Hartmann A...
If what conservatives say is true and we're too broke to afford universal healthcare - why are we still spending trillions on useless weapons programs?
The priciest weapons program in American history is about to get even pricier.
According to Bloomberg, ".... acquisition costs for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s [F-35] may rise about 7 percent to $406.5 billion... That's a reversal after several years of estimates that had declined to $379 billion recently from a previous high of $398.5 billion in early 2014."
Think that's bad?
When you add in maintenance and operations costs, the TOTAL cost of the F-35 -- which is still indefinitely grounded -- is now estimated to be around $1.1 trillion.
According to University of Massachusetts Economist Gerald Friedman, a single-payer healthcare system would cost about $1.5 trillion every year. That is not a lot of money in the Federal budget.
So we can spend millions on this useless weapons program that soldiers don't even like, but can't "afford" single-payer healthcare? I don't get it.
Comments
#2
Citizens of countries like Canada and most European countries that have single-payer universal healthcare systems get at least 100 percent more value for their taxes than US citizens!
#3
#49 since you mention comparing Nazis and the current administration in your post, keep calm, move to which ever way the wind blowing today.
Guess who: Political party: Republican (1987–99, 2009–11, 2012–present); Independent (2011–12); Democratic (until 1987, 2001–09); Reform (1999–2001).
#4
@ Legend- I agree that the neighbouring Mexico should have first grabs on SNAP and Planned Parenthood Funds among many others! About how the government is choosing to rally in numb games with their ‘fr-enemies’ over providing healthcare benefits, I do not see this to be surprising at all- If Trump wanted to play the ‘good nurse’ he’d join the United Nations and not the US Government. If he were to actually do something that were to benefit the people directly, I guess he wouldn’t enjoy his job as much anymore. Who else thinks he gets a kick out of picking a new fight every quarter?
Louis,
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
With His Holiness The Dalai Lama, at His home in Dharamsala, India (Synthesis Dialogues - made into a movie narrated by Harrison Ford)
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann channels the best of the American Founders with voice and pen. His deep attachment to a democratic civil society is just the medicine America needs."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom is a national treasure. Read him, embrace him, learn from him, and follow him as we all work for social change."
From Screwed:
"Thom Hartmann’s book explains in simple language and with concrete research the details of the Neo-con’s war against the American middle class. It proves what many have intuited and serves to remind us that without a healthy, employed, and vital middle class, America is no more than the richest Third World country on the planet."
Oligarchy healthcare: