Spending Priorities

Since I'm on the subject of money, let's return to the $7 billion a month we're spending in Iraq.

It's not just the levees in New Orleans. For decades, our cities and towns have fought tooth and nail to recieve scraps of vital funding for education, crime fighting, drug rehab, urban revitalization, transit improvements, economic revitalization, environmental clean-up, and a whole host of other programs.

The federales say again and again that there just isn't enough money to go around, so all we suffer due to lack of funds. But somehow we can spend $7 billion each month in Iraq for a war that was never necessary.

If we spent $7 billion a month on education in this country, we could rebuild every crumbling school, train and recruit the best teachers and give a private tutor to every struggling kid in America.

If we spent $7 billion on job training, family planning, drug rehab and crime prevention, the streets of every American city would be safe 24/7.

If we spent $7 billion a month on building a clean-energy infrastructure, we could cut our dependence on foreign oil and clean the environment.

If we're going to spend that kind of money anyway, why not spend it right here? How can we presume to tell the rest of the world how to live when we can't take care of ourselves?