On the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, let's jump in our trusty little time machine and set the dial to March 3, 2004:
WASHINGTON — Fresh from a two-day weekend visit to Iraq, the Bush administration's top health care official defended the $950 million that will be spent to help Iraq establish universal health care.
That official was former Wisconsin governor Tommy G. Thompson, now considering a run against Sen. Russ Feingold, who's telling constituents it appears that lobbyist Thompson is less interested in taking on the special interests than in taking them on as clients.
But I digress. We're on the eve of a momentous vote to enact major reform of the health delivery system in the U.S., so we need to assume our positions again in the time machine.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday there are major differences between the two countries that defy simple comparisons.
"Even if you don't have health insurance," said Thompson, who toured medical facilities in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Tikrit on Saturday and Sunday, "you are still taken care of in America. That certainly could be defined as universal coverage. Every American's health care is far superior to what the health care is in Iraq."
Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, responded yesterday, saying the U.S. system doesn't sufficiently meet the needs of 44 million uninsured Americans.
Well, Teddy's gone and Dubya's cruising at motivational speech speed and the splurge in Iraq is still working.
An earlier story, from The Washington Post in 2003, also touched on fixing Iraq's broken Pottery Barn of a medical system, which had allegedly languished under Saddam and was further decimated by Shock and Awe:
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have a vision for health care in Iraq in which all mothers-to-be receive prenatal care, childhood mortality rates plummet and every person has access to virtually free treatment and medicine through an extensive network of 1,400 renovated hospitals and clinics.
It is a vision that will cost U.S. taxpayers almost $2 billion in the first 18 months, an amount some lawmakers say is too steep, especially when a growing number of Americans cannot afford medical care.
"I certainly understand the need for health care in Iraq," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to shift $5 billion from Iraqi assistance to domestic education, health and construction projects. "This administration has a sense of urgency in Iraq that I don't see here at home. We see hospitals closing and the number of uninsured going up, and yet we don't see any sense of urgency from this administration."
Maybe with this administration, that is finally changing. We're at the starting line and not even close to the finish line.