As of 10:06 a.m., Sunday, May 30th, the United States will have spent $1 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
?Perhaps it's a sad sort of poetic justic that this milestone should come as we all celebrate those family members and friends who've served our country. But, it couldn't be a better time to take stock - getting a reality check might be a better way of thinking of it - about our continuing involvement in two wars, despite having elected a president who campaigned as an anti-war president.
Congress goes on vacation, having allowed for a third time this year to allow extended unemployment benefits to lapse. It's just too expensive.
The long fought health care reform package, estimated at a 10 year cost of $1 trillion has been deemed by opponents as too expensive for America.
A billing pending in Congress will add another $37 billion to this year's spending.
Representative John Conyers had this to say about what war spending has really cost:
"What could we have purchased with this $1 trillion? Today, we might be enjoying the fruits of a green economy, spurred by New Deal-like investments in wind and solar. Perhaps we would have created a single-payer health care system and used this $1 trillion to provide health security to every man, woman, and child in the United States for an entire year. Or, we might have made the smart investments in our domestic law enforcement capabilities and homeland security apparatus to provide true protection from Al Qaeda and others who would wish us harm. Sadly, we'll never know, because our political leadership never explored alternative means of achieving peace, such as emphasizing rigorous regional diplomacy, and instead overextended our military forces abroad."
$1 trillion is more than the gross revenues of Exxon, WalMart, General Motors and Ford combined. (Go to PageTutor for a graphic of just how incredibly BIG $1 Trillion is)
What might the citizens o)f Reno, Nevada traded for continuing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Lots, according to the National Priorities Project - widely recognized as the 'go to' source on war funding and costs.
Taxpayers in Reno, Nevada will pay $769.7 million for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
176,425 People with Health Care for One Year OR
17,350 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
16,782 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
152,564 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
138,682 Students receiving Pell Grants of $5550 OR
4,109 Affordable Housing Units OR
265,703 Children with Health Care for One Year OR
88,266 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
16,303 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
698,940 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year
Rather than closing libraries, sending fire and police home, we could be adding to these and so much more.
On a state level, the ugly truth of a $881 billion budget deficit could have been turned around, rather than draconian cuts to education, medicaid, and a myriad of social services to children, senior citizens and the under-privileged. Rather than play 'catch up' with stimulus money, we could be lightyears ahead, building an economy of the future.
So, every time a politician or pundit or Tea Bagger tells you that America can't afford education, the arts, housing, health care, security of our nation's borders, a renewable energy policy - tell them they're lying.
End the wars.
Bring the money - and our troops - home.
Rethink Afghanistan on Facebook
Here's your chance to win a FREE DVD of the Rethink Afghanistan documentary! Suggest to at least 5 Facebook friends that they use our "What's Your Trillion Dollar Plan?" app ( http://bit.ly/cZ0YU9 ) & post a comment below letting us know you've done so. In 1 hour, we'll put your names in a hat and pick a winner! (Yes, it's the honor system…)
The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a 501(c)(3) research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels. For more information, go to http://nationalpriorities.org.
