The Scoop: Is it patriotic to send tax dollars to Iraq?
It was Wednesday afternoon, and I was walking under the grandstand with some Republican pals of mine. We had just finished eating lunch, the same routine we’ve had for the last seven or eight years.
Rain or shine, we gather every Wednesday for some food, some friendly conversation and some occasional sports talk. And seeing how it’s fair week, this is the Wednesday we pig out at the fair for lunch.
It was with full bellies we ambled around the fair and under the grandstand to look at a few booths. And it was about the time we approached Republican headquarters that I made the following observation.
“I think we should bomb this Republican booth,” I said, knowing full well I was with a group of hard-core Republicans.
After receiving a few angry glares, I finished the thought. “Then we could spend billions of taxpayer dollars rebuilding it.”
It might have taken a few minutes for some of them, but I think the comparison finally sunk in. I was poking fun at the way President Bush has spent billions of American dollars bombing Iraq, only to request billions more to rebuild the very country we left in shambles.
Personally, I think this will teach the president a very important lesson. He can play with his expensive military toys if he wants to, but he must clean up the mess. (Note: this is a lesson most of us learned in kindergartner when our parents made us clean our rooms after we were done playing.)
Unfortunately, this is not a laughing matter at all — that is unless your idea of humor is the United States spending an additional $87 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s how much money President Bush told the American people is now needed in those countries during a TV announcement Sunday night.
The $87 billion request comes after the $79 billion Congress approved in the spring to pay for “initial” war expenses. Add those two figures together and you’re approaching the $200 billion estimate that Lawrence Lindsey, once a chief economic advisor to Bush, maintained the war would cost. If you recall, Lindsey was forced to leave his post on Bush’s economic team because of that so-called ridiculous estimate.
Now it’s painfully apparent that $200 billion will be a low-ball estimate based on the current administration’s plans. If you ask me, Bush is more concerned about the future of Iraq than he is with the future of this country. He wants Congress to write blank checks when it comes to Iraq while he slashes highway projects and after-school programs here at home. Gee, thanks.
Bush says he wants to develop a comprehensive health care system for the Iraqi people. Has he taken a glance at the health care system that’s currently offered to Americans? Bush wants to make sure the Iraqis receive a quality education. That’s fine and dandy, but then why not fix the schools in his own backyard in Washington, D.C. first?
Probably the most ironic twist to the whole fiasco with Iraq is that, in the early stages, anyone who questioned the need for such a war was labeled “un-American.” Anyone who didn’t agree with the exact thoughts flowing through President Bush’s head was called unpatriotic.
Now I would be interested to know how many Americans think it’s patriotic to ship billions of our tax dollars to a country far, far away. How many hard-working Americans are trying to raise families and are sick and tired of taxes, taxes and more taxes?
Well here’s a news flash — maybe we wouldn’t be paying so many taxes if the president didn’t want to send $168 billion to Iraq. I only hope by making such a statement I am still considered a good American.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)