With some of that money … (A reprint of Vol. X, Art. 16 … four years ago today.)
On February 3rd, the Associated press printed Andrew Taylor’s article covering the administration’s $ 245 billion budget request for the U.S. Army’s needs in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We happen to agree with the 70% who support our troops but would like to see them here at home with their loved ones. We’d also like to see that $ 245 billion dedicated to more productive and humanitarian efforts rather than to destructive and inhumane efforts.
– With some of that money we could provide fully-paid college educations, or gainful employment, to all those who’ve been in uniform.
– With some of that money we could provide more timely assistance to those young folks who’ve made sacrifices “above and beyond the call”, some of whom have since been placed on a back burner at military medical facilities.
– With some of that money we could rebuild all that Katrina destroyed.
– With some of that money we could guarantee free health care for all, especially for the elderly, and we could provide homes for the homeless while we’re about it.
– With some of that money we could go on the attack … but this time against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s, autism, etc., etc., etc.
– With some of that money we could restore much if not all of the manufacturing capacity we handed over to foreign workers.
– With some of that money we could revitalize our shipyards, and train and employ thousands and thousands of shipyards to build hundreds and hundreds of mid-sized container ships so that we could regain our position as the world’s leading maritime nation.
– With some of that money we could equip our underused ports to handle containers (as former Secretary of the DOT Norman Mineta has suggested) so that imports can be offloaded in close proximity to U.S. consumers/end users, thereby reducing delivery costs.
– With some of that money we could restructure the nation’s supply chain “infrastructure”, emphasizing pollution-free methods of truck and rail transportation, and assuring timely and cost-effective movement of goods.
– And if $ 245 billion isn’t enough, why we’ll just demand that the government print more money. Isn’t that what they’re doing anyway?
[But we wouldn’t need any more “funny money”. Our restored industries would enrich us all.]
[P.S. – $ 245 billion was peanuts compared to the “Defense Budget” Obama submitted last week.]