End the Iraq Recession for American Taxpayers (Rep. Keith Ellison)
April 19th, 2008
Our taxes support our federal budget and a budget is a moral statement about who matters in our society. A budget is a reflection of our humanity. It indicates about who counts, who doesn’t and what our priorities are. When $ .43 cents of every $1.00 goes to the military, the American debt stands at $9.4 TRILLION, our schools and teachers are under-funded, 46 million Americans have no healthcare, and our bridges are collapsing – our priorities are wrong.
In addition to the economic sacrifices we have made, over 4,000 of America’s best and brightest young men and women, including 61 young Minnesotans, have given the ultimate sacrifice with their lives for that war.
The late Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey stated, ‘the moral test of a society is by how we treat those in the dawn of life – the children; those in the dusk of life – the elderly, and those in the shadow of life – the disabled.’ By any measure, this Administration and its war policies have failed every American family.
What is even worse is that while we spend $12 BILLION a month in Iraq, the Iraqi government is enjoying a $60 BILLION budget surplus created in large part by the price of gasoline Americans are paying for at the pump.
Enough is enough. It’s time to let the Iraqi government take responsibility for themselves. It’s time to offer our troops and their families the best kind of support we know of: bring them home safely – and end the Iraq Recession for American taxpayers.
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