Why fund wars with debt, but not health care?

All this assumes that defense and health care should be treated equally in the national budget. We would argue that they should not be, for two reasons. One is that wars, unlike entitlement programs, eventually come to an end. A guarantee of health care for all, particularly in the context of steadily rising costs, will bankrupt the nation if not matched by a steady stream of revenue.

The second reason has been laid out eloquently by Obama. “As president, my greatest responsibility is the security and safety of the American people,” he said in an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars two months ago. Obama went on to say that Afghanistan “is not a war of choice; this is a war of necessity ... This is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense of our people.”

Universal health care, however desirable, is not “fundamental to the defense of our people.” Nor is it a “necessity” that it be adopted this year: Obama chose to propose a massive new entitlement at a time of historic budget deficits. In contrast, McChrystal believes that if reinforcements are not sent to Afghanistan in the next year, the war may be lost, with catastrophic consequences for U.S. interests in South Asia. U.S. soldiers would continue to die, without the prospect of defeating the Taliban. And, as Obama put it, “if left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaida would plot to kill more Americans.”

So, in answer to our questioner: Wars end, and the spending for them tapers off; entitlement programs must be funded in perpetuity. Wars compel decisions, like the one now at hand; new entitlement programs can be phased in or delayed.

And the nation's security must be the president's first priority. To quote Obama once more, it is “the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. It's the last thing I think about when I go to sleep at night.” Even for a president dedicated to domestic reform, that must hold true.

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