What can $100 billion buy?
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Categories: Peace & Social Justice, Foreign Policy & Security, Budget Priorities
Categories: Peace & Social Justice, Foreign Policy & Security, Budget Priorities
I did a little math this week to get a sense of what the $100 billion dollars that the President is asking for in the Supplemental Appropriations Request for the war amounts to. What could we actually get for $100 billion? Well,
we could get approximately one more year of what we've been getting for the past four years, OR we could get:
In Iraq we could
-- Build 200 schools at a cost of $5 million each; AND
-- build 200 health clinics at $10 million each; AND
-- pay 10,000 doctors $50,000 per year for TEN YEARS; AND
-- Pay 10,000 teachers $20,000 per year for TEN YEARS; AND
-- pay 100,000 police $25,000 per year for TEN YEARS.
Quick, guess how much we would have spent? So far, $35 billion, just about ONE-THIRD of what the President is asking for. Do the math yourself if you don't believe it. Now, which of these spending plans do YOU think is more likely to promote peace and security in Iraq? Just imagine what else we could do with the REST of that $100 billion. Maybe some of it could be spent providing treatment to the tens of thousands of physically and mentally wounded soldiers who will be coming home from this God-awful war, and providing for some of their families' needs.
we could get approximately one more year of what we've been getting for the past four years, OR we could get:
In Iraq we could
-- Build 200 schools at a cost of $5 million each; AND
-- build 200 health clinics at $10 million each; AND
-- pay 10,000 doctors $50,000 per year for TEN YEARS; AND
-- Pay 10,000 teachers $20,000 per year for TEN YEARS; AND
-- pay 100,000 police $25,000 per year for TEN YEARS.
Quick, guess how much we would have spent? So far, $35 billion, just about ONE-THIRD of what the President is asking for. Do the math yourself if you don't believe it. Now, which of these spending plans do YOU think is more likely to promote peace and security in Iraq? Just imagine what else we could do with the REST of that $100 billion. Maybe some of it could be spent providing treatment to the tens of thousands of physically and mentally wounded soldiers who will be coming home from this God-awful war, and providing for some of their families' needs.
Unfortunately with the lunatic GOP Right Wing zealots still running the country this common sense will go unused.
It is amazing to me that voters and anti war activists haven't yet awakened to the fact that the quickest way to end the Iraq Killing is to pressure Congress to Impeach Bush & Cheney.
The threat of Impeachment worked to end the Vietnam War sooner and it will work today.
Probably it will occur when Republicans in Congress become aware that Bush is destroying their Party's election chances for eons and begin the Impeachment process
themselves...
the House Democrats don't seem to want to do it.
That is why our group
Weekly Vigils To impeach (& to Stop the Iraq War)
has done 16 weekly vigils since Jan 24.
We are small in numbers but we are Effective.
We hope you all will join us now and then.
Link
a project of 1stProtestInTheStreet.org
a PNA group at
Link
As a result of the campaign gratitude gifts of monumental tax breaks to the ultra-rich the current occupant has financed his reign through a ballooning National Debt in Federal Bonds largely bought by Chinese and Saudi interests. This is a deplorable vision of a future America: China and Saudi Arabia holding the notes on the national debt, and a Federal Government constrained to paying that interest rather than programs for the greater good of the American people.
We need to pay more atttention to the debtor-nation death-slide the current occupant has created. Only 670 more days until the next Democratic President can start action to save the Nation.