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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Misplaced
Republican Spending Priorities
by Stephen Crockett, co-host of
Democratic Talk Radio
The kind of money being
spent by the Bush Republicans can result in saved or lost lives. We
all can see the results in the case of Iraq. Launching his optional
war against Saddam Hussein, in the way he did, Bush has directly cost
the lives of thousands of American soldiers and maybe a hundred
thousand mostly innocent Iraqi civilians. We have failed as a nation
to come to terms with the massive costs that are less direct and
obvious but just as real.
The Iraq War we did not
really have to fight will certainly cost the American taxpayers over a
trillion dollars and maybe much more. The number is so large that few
citizens truly understand the number. The best way to get a handle on
a trillion dollars is first to imagine a stack of a million one dollar
bills. A trillion dollars is a million stacks with a million ones in
each stack.
Most estimates of the
financial resources needed to repair the key infrastructures of the
American economy are in the range of one to two trillion dollars. Both
the Iraq War and the infrastructure cost needs may be higher than
estimated at this time. The infrastructure needs are mostly repairs to
bridges, roads, railroads, harbors and public utilities. The cost of
the Iraq War would have largely met these essential needs.
Spending the money here
would have saved American jobs and prevented inevitable future deaths
resulting from the inevitable future failures of key infrastructure
components. The horror we just witnessed with the collapse of the
interstate bridge in Minnesota will become much more common because of
the waste of taxpayer money in Iraq.
The tax cuts for the Super
Wealthy that the Republicans pushed into law during the earliest
months of the Bush Administration have been more damaging to the
financial ability of the federal government than even the Iraq War.
These tax cuts were even less needed than was the invasion and
occupation of Iraq. While middle class tax cuts were justified, tax
cuts for those making millions of dollars per year were not!
The government debt,
created by these tax cuts, is going to cost taxpayers trillions of
dollars in future interest payments. Government services will be cut.
As a result, public needs will not be met. Republican ideology and
Republican greed has trumped serving the public good!
The government revenues
lost as a result of tax cuts for the Super Wealthy would have largely
paid for universal, single-payer health care. The United States is the
only developed nation in the world to deny their citizens this kind of
health care. Germany has been providing this kind of government
guaranteed health care for over 120 years.
Literally millions of
Americans have died earlier than they should have as a result of
Republicans blocking health care reform. We could have guaranteed
universal health care as far back as President Truman. Republicans
have always falsely stated that guaranteed universal health care was
just not financially possible.
If we could afford
trillions of dollars for unwise wars and tax cuts for Super Wealthy
individuals who do not need them, we can afford to both rebuild our
economic infrastructure and guarantee our citizens universal access to
decent health care! Our choices in public spending should save and
improve the lives of our citizens instead of killing them.
comment on this news item...
Written by Stephen
Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio
http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ).
Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland
21919. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email:
midsouthcm@aol.com .
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