It was the great twentieth-century Senator Everett Dirksen who memorably (if only allegedly) observed the power and size of the federal purse. But what’s significant is not only the enormous amount of money the U.S. Government actually spends, but also how federal spending can accomplish almost anything. We’re fought and won two World Wars, built the interstate highway system, put a man on the moon, eradicated diseases and deciphered the secrets of DNA. The federal spending power – the power of our collective tax dollars at work – can literally change the world.
What a cost, then, for the Iraq War. Over $530 billion dollars. That’s $4,681 per household, or $341.4 million per day. That could have paid for health care for 2.5 million Coloradans for one year. It could build 268,181affordable housing units in New York. It could put 1,190,170 new police officers on the streets in California. And it could provide disaster-struck Iowans with household electricity from renewable sources – enough to power 4.5 million households for a year.
Now, the House of Representatives has just written Bush and Cheney another blank check – funding new war spending in Iraq through Summer 2009 without any timetables for troop withdrawals or accountability to Congress. That sum – over $162 billion – could provide health care for 70 million Americans, or build half a million new units of affordable housing, or fund almost 2 million port inspectors to secure the homeland, or fund a wholesale switch to renewable energy for household electricity – across the nation.
War isn’t cheap, in terms of American lives or treasure. But the opportunity cost – what we could have done with that money to invest in Americans’ health, safety, education, housing and environment here within our borders – is staggering. It puts the high costs of war in even greater contrast to what the smart alternatives could have been.
Starting this week, Progressive Future will be describing
the opportunity cost America is paying — from health care to energy to
education — by wasting billions of dollars in the Iraq war that we could be
investing here at home. You can get all the details by signing up to receive
our e-mails. When you do, you'll add your name to a growing list of activists
who want a new direction for America.
This summer we’ll be going door-to-door in cities across the country and
working online to build active, local Progressive Future chapters to make sure
that decision-makers hear a loud, progressive voice this year, and after
Election Day we’ll keep the pressure on as we help move America in a new
direction.
- Hugh
