Misplaced Republican Priorities
Dear editor:
I daily read newspapers, both local and national, watch the news on TV, and find myself in a complete quandary as to what some Americans are thinking about. With all the obvious problems our country faces today, I do not understand what some people are considering what is of primary concern in the days ahead. Let’s look at what the ‘real problems’ are.
Start with the dragging on, old story of the Iraq War. The cost is running at over a half a trillion dollars, an American death toll less than 50 short of 4,000 troops, over 25,000 wounded and no end in sight. At least we can’t plan for an end because the definition of victory, as explained by the White House, keeps changing and the original reasons for the war has been lost in rhetoric and spin.
We now are sending 3,500 additional marines to the unfinished conflict in Afghanistan. NATO allies it appears will not send any more soldiers to share additional burdens caused by the renewal of major Taliban hostilities, and some allies are talking of pulling out altogether.
These two conflicts have stretched our military beyond belief. And no matter what anyone claims, being against the war is in no way against the troops. I should know. My son is a U.S. Navy Lt. Commander, having just spent three years with Naval Special Warfare, with numerous trips on the ground with the Seal Teams in Iraq. He now is leaving for six months in Bahrain.
Next are the economy and our financial position in the world.
There was a time in the not too distant past that the world looked to the United States for growth, financial investment, loans and ever increasing billions in aid. Oil was $20 a barrel; the Soviet Union was financially collapsing internally; Asian countries were courting the International Monetary Fund for cheap loans; and China, India and other East Asian countries were “emerging” economically.
Today, our “wars against terrorism,” a true misnomer, are draining our treasury, along with our tax breaks for the rich, and our national debt has ballooned to nine trillion dollars ($9,000,000,000.) The value of the American Dollar has plummeted world wide. The sub-prime mortgage debacle has had an unbelievable negative effect on our banking system, on our building industry, on the stock market, and most importantly on the savings and retirement plans of million of Americans. So what does our president do? To ‘solve’ the problem he has submitted a budget of three trillion dollars that cuts back on Medicare and Medicaid but increases the Department of Defense allocation by a huge amount. And oh yes, this doesn’t even begin to touch money for the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.
As a result of all of this, we are the country that must go hat in hand to Middle and Far Eastern countries, who enjoy huge monetary surpluses, to buy our out of control debt and to save our banks from bankruptcy. Don’t think it was hat in hand? It was President Bush who had to go “ask” the Saudi Arabian king to do something about oil prices to help us out. But it wasn’t even the king who turned him down, but rather an underling (oil minister) who did so to the man who occupies the so-called most powerful seat of government in the world.
And what are the minions of the so-called conservative, family oriented, evangelical, faith based, far-right wing of the President’s party, led by Rush Limbaugh, overly concerned about in finding a standard bearer for the November election? Let’s see….a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, a ban on government sponsored stem-cell research, putting prayer in schools, no gays in the military, faith based initiatives paid for by the federal government, more tax breaks for the rich, and on and on.
Where in the world are their priorities for the survival of this country?
I daily read newspapers, both local and national, watch the news on TV, and find myself in a complete quandary as to what some Americans are thinking about. With all the obvious problems our country faces today, I do not understand what some people are considering what is of primary concern in the days ahead. Let’s look at what the ‘real problems’ are.
Start with the dragging on, old story of the Iraq War. The cost is running at over a half a trillion dollars, an American death toll less than 50 short of 4,000 troops, over 25,000 wounded and no end in sight. At least we can’t plan for an end because the definition of victory, as explained by the White House, keeps changing and the original reasons for the war has been lost in rhetoric and spin.
We now are sending 3,500 additional marines to the unfinished conflict in Afghanistan. NATO allies it appears will not send any more soldiers to share additional burdens caused by the renewal of major Taliban hostilities, and some allies are talking of pulling out altogether.
These two conflicts have stretched our military beyond belief. And no matter what anyone claims, being against the war is in no way against the troops. I should know. My son is a U.S. Navy Lt. Commander, having just spent three years with Naval Special Warfare, with numerous trips on the ground with the Seal Teams in Iraq. He now is leaving for six months in Bahrain.
Next are the economy and our financial position in the world.
There was a time in the not too distant past that the world looked to the United States for growth, financial investment, loans and ever increasing billions in aid. Oil was $20 a barrel; the Soviet Union was financially collapsing internally; Asian countries were courting the International Monetary Fund for cheap loans; and China, India and other East Asian countries were “emerging” economically.
Today, our “wars against terrorism,” a true misnomer, are draining our treasury, along with our tax breaks for the rich, and our national debt has ballooned to nine trillion dollars ($9,000,000,000.) The value of the American Dollar has plummeted world wide. The sub-prime mortgage debacle has had an unbelievable negative effect on our banking system, on our building industry, on the stock market, and most importantly on the savings and retirement plans of million of Americans. So what does our president do? To ‘solve’ the problem he has submitted a budget of three trillion dollars that cuts back on Medicare and Medicaid but increases the Department of Defense allocation by a huge amount. And oh yes, this doesn’t even begin to touch money for the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.
As a result of all of this, we are the country that must go hat in hand to Middle and Far Eastern countries, who enjoy huge monetary surpluses, to buy our out of control debt and to save our banks from bankruptcy. Don’t think it was hat in hand? It was President Bush who had to go “ask” the Saudi Arabian king to do something about oil prices to help us out. But it wasn’t even the king who turned him down, but rather an underling (oil minister) who did so to the man who occupies the so-called most powerful seat of government in the world.
And what are the minions of the so-called conservative, family oriented, evangelical, faith based, far-right wing of the President’s party, led by Rush Limbaugh, overly concerned about in finding a standard bearer for the November election? Let’s see….a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, a ban on government sponsored stem-cell research, putting prayer in schools, no gays in the military, faith based initiatives paid for by the federal government, more tax breaks for the rich, and on and on.
Where in the world are their priorities for the survival of this country?
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 7:42 PM
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