Collapsing Bridges vs. War in Iraq

[babylonsister]

Collapsing Bridges vs. War in Iraq

By Stephen Crockett
August 3, 2007


The kind of money being spent by the Bush Republicans can result in saved or lost lives.

We all can see the results in the case of Iraq. Launching his optional war against Saddam Hussein, in the way he did, Bush has directly cost the lives of thousands of American soldiers and maybe a hundred thousand mostly innocent Iraqi civilians. We have failed as a nation to come to terms with the massive costs that are less direct and obvious but just as real.

The Iraq War we did not really have to fight will certainly cost the American taxpayers over a trillion dollars and maybe much more. The number is so large that few citizens truly understand the number. The best way to get a handle on a trillion dollars is first to imagine a stack of a million one dollar bills. A trillion dollars is a million stacks with a million ones in each stack.

Most estimates of the financial resources needed to repair the key infrastructures of the American economy are in the range of one to two trillion dollars. Both the Iraq War and the infrastructure cost needs may be higher than estimated at this time.

The infrastructure needs are mostly repairs to bridges, roads, railroads, harbors and public utilities. The cost of the Iraq War would have largely met these essential needs.

Spending the money here would have saved American jobs and prevented inevitable future deaths resulting from the inevitable future failures of key infrastructure components. The horror we just witnessed with the collapse of the interstate bridge in Minnesota will become much more common because of the waste of taxpayer money in Iraq.

more...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/080207a.html

[JuniperLea]

1. I've said it before... and I'll say it again...

We seem to have all the money in the world to kill people, but none to help them.

[emilyg]

2. Say it again. I agree.

[JuniperLea]

3. I'm going to change my sig line right now! eom

[emilyg]

8. Love it!!!

[Cha]

5. And this brings me

back to what I read on the screen of the old "Spin Room" on cnn with Bill Press and tuckered carlson. They printed emails on their screen from viewers discussing whether bush or Gore would ultimately "win".

One email floating by read.."If george bush gets in you can Kiss Our Country Good-bye".

Darned if Howard Dean didn't have to come up with a slogan that states.."WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!"

This was the show that made me want to get a computer so I could email my thoughts on the selection..and then they cancelled The SPIN ROOM..and cnn fired ultimately fired Bill Press and brought in carville and begala to counter novakula and tuckered.

[JuniperLea]

6. I remember that!

My b/f (howardx here) said something quite profound when Bush was elected the first time... he told his life-long(but now left-leaning) Republican father: "Well, we'll be at war any minute now."

We both wish he had been wrong. Heck, I wish I'd been wrong about so many damn things I've said about this regime.

[blues90]

4. All these problems come from the same root .

This is the will to kill and the desire to ignore .

[Robson]

7. May I say something?

Not to sound politically crass, but the TRAGIC collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis last night highlighted everything wrong with Bush and the corrupt GOP and the ongoing irrational expenditures of taxpayer money in Iraq so we don't have a problem in the USA. The momentum against the GOP and their 6+ years of screwing Americans in favor of big business hit us right between our eyes last night.

Then we have the stupid MFers in Congress who last night shut down debate prematurely so that illegals could get welfare, and it all changed in an instant. WTF can you say other than.....there are some stupid bastards in Congress.

[ben_meyers]

9. The state of Minnesota is responsible for that bridge

And they have a 2 billion dollar budget surplus! Why didn't they do their job? This bridge was deemed a problem in 1990, they have had almost 20 years to fix it! Blaming Bush in this case is pure bullshit and lets the real culprits off the hook.

State predicts $2 billion budget surplus over next three years
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio,
Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
November 29, 2006
State finance officials say Minnesota will have a budget surplus that should top $2 billion over the next two-year budget cycle. The economic forecast released on Wednesday also says lawmakers will have a financial cushion of more than $1 billion for the current biennium. The surplus means lawmakers are likely to face a parade of proposals for spending the money in the 2007 session. Gov. Pawlenty also has proposed a plan that would give some of the money back to taxpayers.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/11/28/budget/

[babylonsister]

10. You need to read this instead of defending this admin:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1510487