Last week, President George W. Bush embraced the flood of jobs out of the country, and tried to turn one of his biggest failures into a positive. Soon, Bush may be following in the footsteps of millions who lost their jobs because of his policies. If he wants to do something those people cannot do and find work somewhere else, it might be easy to find.
As Josh Marshall, editor of talkingpointsmemo.com and weekly contributor to The Hill puts it, "Given the president's record as a businessman, and since he's now run the country hopelessly into debt, isn't it about time he sells the country off to some rich friends who will swallow the loss so he can move on to greener pastures?"
Those greener pastures should be none other than the original green pasture, the Fertile Crescent itself - Iraq.
Before the war started, Bush signed a contract with U.S. Agency for International Development to deliver universal health care to all 25 million Iraqis. While vigilantly campaigning against such an ideal in the United States, Bush would be quick to deliver health care to the newly liberated country.
Is Bush for or against universal health care? If he is willing to extend health care to every Iraqi, why won't he extend it to the 44 million Americans who aren't getting proper coverage?
According to various polls, the second most important issue behind jobs is health care. Costs are rising and Bush's own Medicare bill won't take effect until 2006. Worse, it takes away the power of the government to negotiate more affordable prices. It also does not address the 44 million Americans who would benefit from universal coverage.
Bush is combating the health care issue on the wrong continent. He seems to be more in touch with the needs of the Iraqi voter than those of everyday Americans.
But health care is not the only policy Bush has differing stances on between countries.
Back in April, the war was criticized for being motivated by Iraqi oil. Protestors drew attention to documents by Dick Cheney's energy task force that divided up the oil in early 2001, showing that the task force was thinking of privatizing. To assuage those fears, Bush declared that the oil under Iraq is "a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people."
Did the great populist George Walker Bush realized that if corporations control natural resources, the money won't go to the people, and it is best for a big government to handle wealth so that it can be redistributed evenly?
Probably not.
Bush opened up American mountains and forests to the energy industry in June, letting them drill and mine on American land. The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, a pristine area roughly the size of Delaware, is slated to suffer the same fate. Apparently, the resources of America are also a source of wealth, but they only belong to a select few American people - the masters of industry over the populous.
Again, Bush gives the Iraqi people what the American public wants.
Now that Iraqi elections are approaching, the people are going to choose what kind of government they want. Apparently they can vote for whatever they want, except religious theocracy that will take rights away from women. The U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, was very clear about protecting women's rights, declaring that all measures "can't be law until (he signs them)."
Meanwhile, back at Capitol Hill, our government is fighting hard to take away a woman's right over her body and people's choice for marriage because of religious beliefs that apparently trump our constitution.
It would be nice if we had universal health care, a government free from religious beliefs and popular control to profit from state resources. Things are still very dangerous in Iraq, but the one politician who is most committed to their future and who cares about their liberal needs is the current resident of the White House.
Exporting liberal democracy around the world is a great thing, but we should be leading by example.
Bush could run a great campaign in Iraq, and then govern them properly. Plus they have very low standards. It seems like a great fit.
