How Many Hours of War Spending Would it Take to Fund Health Insurance?

"We the People" apparently have no problem with spending over $14 million dollars an hour to injure and kill others but can't scrape up the cash to provide health care for our own children. I know I'm repeating myself over and over, trying to present the information in a slightly different way each time, but the basic message is we better liposuction the lip-service and start proving what our priorities are with the real deal, cold hard cash.

It's too easy to blame Bush. Just as Hitler would be powerless without the Nazis, Bush would be powerless without "us". I didn't vote for Bush but I include myself as a "Bush supporter" because it took me far too long to catch on to his plans to eliminate the "New Deal" and shred the Constitution.

I sit safely at my desk typing whatever the hell I feel like without worrying about whether I am risking anything but my eyesight or if I'll hear my alarm clock tomorrow morning. At the same time, I realize all this freedom and security I enjoy could disappear in a flash if America becomes victim to another act of terror.

The opportunity cost of this war is incomprehensible. Not only are we paying out $3,850 per second to fight this war but the cost of what we could be doing with the time and energy devoted to this war is astronomical.

"That translates into $333 million a day, $14 million an hour, $231,000 a minute and $3,850 a second. Even for the world's richest country, this is serious money."

On top of what this war is costing Americans, the toll this war is taking on Iraqis is beyond comprehension.

"Many of the internally displaced Iraqis -- IDPs in the language of aid organizations -- live in grim conditions, in makeshift camps without running water, electricity, even latrines.

[...]

This summer, the Iraq Chief of Mission of the International Organization of Migration (IOM), Rafiq Tschannen, said "only a fraction" of internally displaced Iraqis were getting basic assistance. It was difficult to understand, he said, why there was so little response to appeals for help.

[...]

U.S. contributions to various relief organizations quadrupled in 2007, to just under $200 million from $43 million in 2006, pocket change in terms of the war's cost. The sharp increase makes Washington the biggest single donor in the refugee crisis, according to the U.S. Department of State.

As to the $85 million appeal by the IOM, made in June -- by September, the organization had received $6 million, 5 million from the United States and 1 million from Australia.

The shortfall, $79 million, would be covered by less than six hours of war spending.