Bush supported single payer - in Iraq

by: Gerald Weinand

Thu Sep 17, 2009 at 17:00:00 PM EDT

Article 31 of the Iraqi Constitution, drafted by your right-wing Bushies in 2005 and ratified by the Iraqi people, includes state-guaranteed (single payer) healthcare for life for every Iraqi citizen.

Article 31 reads:

"First: Every citizen has the right to health care. The State shall maintain public health and provide the means of prevention and treatment by building different types of hospitals and health institutions.

Second: Individuals and entities have the right to build hospitals, clinics,or private health care centers under the supervision of the State, and this shall be regulated by law."

There are other health care guarantees, including special provisions for children, the elderly, and the handicapped elsewhere in the 43-page document.

You can find the Iraqi constitution here (pdf warning). I continued reading it on my own, and found this in Article 34:

Second: Free education in all its stages is a right for all Iraqis.

Fourth: Private and public education shall be guaranteed, and this shall be
regulated by law.

Free education, guaranteed, by law. Article 37. First has this:

C. All forms of psychological and physical torture and inhumane treatment are prohibited. Any confession made under force, threat, or torture shall not be relied on, and the victim shall have the right to seek compensation for material and moral damages incurred in accordance with the law.

"We do not torture," said President Bush. Who knew that he was talking about in Iraq?

And Article 40:

The freedom of communication and correspondence, postal, telegraphic, electronic, and telephonic, shall be guaranteed and may not be monitored, wiretapped, or disclosed except for legal and security necessity and by a judicial decision.

Bush didn't let that get in the way of his warrantless wiretapping, abetted by all the major telecoms except Qwest.

I'll try to read more later. But you can!