Tag: national priorities

We asked recently what you would rather have than a war.

Now, from Brave New Films, an easy, amusing way to make those choices:

The occupation of Iraq will cost $3 trillion, America’s most expensive conflict since WWII.

Can YOU spend that money better?

Here’s your chance to go on a virtual $3 trillion shopping spree and prove it!

Browse our online store, fill up your cart, click the checkout button, and send virtual gifts to everyone you know.

A private island fortress? Healthcare for all? Anything you can imagine, and if you can’t find it, add it yourself!

Watch the video, then load up your cart here.  

Tuesday is Tax Day, which prompts people to ask: What is the government doing with my money?

Well, there’s a trillion or two or three for the Iraq war.

Not to worry, says President Bush.  The war is consuming only a “modest fraction” of the country’s wealth.

The National Priorities Project says that in 2007 the federal government spent 42.2 percent of every income tax dollar on military spending.

There’s an old cliche that figures don’t lie but liars figure.  Who you gonna believe — the guy who lied us into the war?  

No, it’s not one of those nonsense questions.

Like, “What would you rather be or an elephant?”

“Would you rather carry your lunch or walk to work?”

“Is it farther to New York or by airplane?”

What would you rather have than the war in Iraq?

Setting aside the human cost, the carnage — if that is possible, by an act of will — just focus on the monetary costs.  Money’s something everyone can relate to — even conservatives.

And there is no better teaching moment, no better time to make the argument that we can’t afford to continue this war and occupation, than April 15, the day we empty our pockets and send our money to the Pentagon.

That could and should be a focus of antiwar activity this month.

Who cares who won the Democratic beauty contest in Florida?  Well, Clinton supporters, of course. What the returns indicate is that if there had been no campaign anywhere in the country, Hillary Clinton would have won easily.  But we knew that. (That’s why we have campaigns, and not just polls.)

Here’s the worst news:

From the WashPost blog, The Trail:

Early network exit polls out of Florida show the economy is the breakaway issue, with nearly half of GOP voters and more than half of Democrats calling it the nation’s top concern…  

Among Republicans:

Top issue: economy 47%, terrorism 19%, immigration 17%, Iraq 13%

Among Democrats:

Top issue: economy 55%, Iraq 25%, health care 17%

Why would that be?