Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Time to get off our collective butt

I returned today with the news that Congress and the White House are in a standoff on the 2008 appropriations bills. Although this may sound like a boring post to start off my return from vacation, it's actually got me pretty fired up.

You see, the war in Iraq is costing us about $12 billion per month. Yes, per month. And while we continue to pour money down this bottomless hole of a mess, our own citizens here at home suffer and our future as a world leader looks grim. In the congressional spending bills are provisions for home heating assistance for low-income Americans. President Bush says it's too much. He also says Congress is planning to give too much money to Amtrak, and he wants that cut way down, too. Oh yeah, and he also wants to cut down spending on Head Start, community centers, and health research.

What kind of nation have we become when we spend billions of dollars each month to occupy and fight in a country where we are not welcome, while neglecting our own citizens? According to Prime Minister Al-Maliki, Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want." A recent poll of Iraqi citizens found that 47% approve of attacks on US forces. And 80% think that we plan to have a permanent presence in their country (such as military bases) even after the troops are withdrawn.

We are a prosperous nation, but we are like a child when it comes to spending. The Bush-Cheney crowd saw the conflict in Iraq as a child sees a shiny new bicycle. No sense of priorities or empathy for others, just grabbing at what they want at that moment. Childish and irresponsible.

It's time for all of us as American citizens to speak out about where our tax money goes. President Bush has already announced that he will veto any bills that he feels put too much money on domestic spending. Yet he's given a blank check to the mess in Iraq. It's our money that he has been entrusted with, and it's time we made it loud an clear that we want a change. Contact your Senators and Representatives and demand that they stand up to Bush's threats. It's your money he's playing with. All $12 billion a month of it.

1 comment:

Allison said...

I say if Iraq wants to do it on their own, they should. All those lies people tell about the terrorists migrating over to American soil is such a load of crap. These insurgents aren't a terrorist organization, they're local poor wack-jobs. They don't have the money nor equipment to follow us overseas. They barely have the money or equipment to make it to Iran.