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Commentary Too - Jun 18, 2005 - Printable Version
- Casualties of War
by Mark Faulk
The direct cost of the war in Iraq, both in monetary and human terms, is tragic in nature and massive in scope, and has been well-documented by the media. Over 1,700 American lives lost, an estimated 15,000 injured, $177 billion in taxpayers' money spent. But what about the indirect costs of war, the countless programs that have had their spending cut or even eliminated so that we can wage a war for all the wrong reasons? In order to fund "his" war (and give away billions to the wealthy), Bush will have to cut domestic spending by 38% in order to reach his goal of balancing the budget by 2014. If Bush has his way, here are just a few of the other casualties of war:
Veterans:
Let's begin with those who have laid their lives on the line for their country, both in Iraq and in past wars, our nation's veterans. While many of us (65% and rising) don't support the war in Iraq, every American supports our troops. Right?
Wrong. Here are just a few of the cuts that our bravest will endure. The Bush administration is asking for a $350 million reduction in Veteran's home funding, which will wipe out at least 5,000 beds in veterans' nursing homes. Veterans' co-payment for prescription drugs will double this year, after tripling just two years ago. Veterans will be required to pay a $250 yearly fee just to participate in the Veteran's Administration health care program.
Children:
And how about your children? What does the $177 billion (and rising by the second) in money spent on the war mean to them? Bush told Americans in his State of the Union address, “We want to do what Americans have always done – build a better world for our children and grandchildren.” Here's how he proposes to help your children:
300,000 children will lose child care assistance (in addition to the 200,000 that already lost their child care last year). Cuts to the Head Start program will mean that 25,000 children will lose access to that life-changing program.
Cuts to Medicaid will drain $44 billion dollars from the health care system—money that could insure nearly 1.8 million children.
Funding to public television will be cut by 25% this year, and eliminated altogether within two years, making Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Arthur, and Reading Rainbow the latest casualties of war. If the Bush Administration has it's way, no one will be able to tell you how to get to Sesame Street.
Throw in cuts to the Food Stamp program, health care, assistance for winter heating to low-income families, zero funding for elementary and secondary school counseling, and you've got a generation that for the first time in our country's history, won't be better off than their parents. Sorry, kids, but we've got a war to win.
Education:
And what about schools? It would take a novel to detail all of the programs that will be effected by Bush's cuts in education spending, so instead, we'll just list a few of them in one of those run-on sentences that teachers hate so much.
Bush's vaunted "No Child Left Behind" program will be underfunded by at least $6 billion dollars in 2006 (putting the cumulative total shortfall since it was passed at almost $40 billion), $920 million will be cut from high school and vocational programs, The Perkins Loan Program (which provides loans to low and middle income college students) will be eliminated, Upward Bound......eliminated, Talent Search....eliminated, all spending on vocational education.....eliminated, in fact, 48 federal education programs in all will be eliminated, and $500 million will be cut from the Department of Education's budget....the first reduction in federal spending on education in ten years.
Drug Enforcement:
Funding will be cut in half for state drug task forces, which is still better than what Bush has recommended for the past two years.....zero funding. Rural drug enforcement efforts will decrease by 90%, and and gang enforcement programs in urban areas will be cut back as well. Of course, we will be able to arrest those dangerous marijuana smoking cancer, HIV, and glaucoma patients. I mean, how far can those people run, anyway?
Here's a good one: Bush administration supporters said that cutting the budget in half will actually help drug fighting efforts......that is, if "drug kingpins" are arrested. So-called "low-level offenders" will be left to roam the streets, which is a good thing, since budget cuts to jails and prisons already has convicts being released long before their sentences are served. In fact, 47,000 prisoners have been released early in the past year......from Los Angeles county alone, where thousands have been freed after serving less than 10% of their sentence. Do the crime, and don't worry about doing the time.
Environmental Protection:
It's a no-brainer that this will be the hardest hit sector. After all, this administration has already made it clear that it doesn't give a damn about our environment. Never has, never will. This is from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
The reductions to environmental protection and natural resource programs (including national parks) would be severe. Overall, environmental and natural resource programs would be cut by $27 billion over the 2006-2010 period and by $8 billion, or 23 percent, in 2010 alone. This would require widespread, deep cuts in these programs. For instance, the set of EPA programs that support state and local environmental efforts related to ensuring clean drinking water, upgrading sewage treatment facilities, and reducing air pollution (known as the State and Tribal Assistance Grants) would be reduced by $1.1 billion — a cut of 28 percent — in 2010.
Public Transportation:
Bush will cut $11 billion in public transportation funding, which will put millions back on our roads, and Amtrak, like Big Bord and Oscar, will become extinct altogether, as it's federal funding is cut to (you guessed it)......zero. Amtrak provides service to more than 500 US destinations in 46 states. A record 24 million passengers rode Amtrak this past year, and ridership has soared on all routes. Carpool, anyone?
Health Care:
Besides the $44 billion cut to Medicaid, Bush wants to cut spending on HIV and AIDS treatment by $550 over the next five years, the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) by $658 million over the next five years, low-cost housing by $370 million over the next five years, and countless other medical programs, all while refusing to allow individuals or states buy prescription drugs from other countries as drug and medical costs in our country continue to soar. Affordable health care? It's a contradiction in terms.
Did we miss anyone? Of course we did, but you get the idea. Throw in a 30% cut to the program that funds training, equipment, and staffing to our fire departments, a $1.3 billion cut in federal grants for charitable organizations (which by some estimates could shut down 50% of nonprofit groups nationwide), a 70% cut in adult education spending, a $600 million cut in the airport improvement program, and of course, the social security debacle....well, as I said, you get the idea.
There is one group, however, that isn't in danger of becoming a casualty of war, and in fact is flourishing under the Bush administration. Those who earned over $200,000 last year won't have to tighten their designer belts, in fact, they received a massive $69 billion tax cut from their millionaire President just last year. While many of the nation's wealthy are actually saying "enough is enough" (or maybe that should be "too much is enough"), and vowing to spend that "free" money on those who really need it, still others, including the family and heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, are busy spending their money lobbying for even more tax cuts for the ultra-rich.
So there it is.....just a few of the "casualties of war", the real cost of waging a war that was never just, moral, or necessary. We have a clear choice here, support our own nation, support our children, our elderly, our cities, our environment, protect our own borders, and on and on, or continue to fund this generation's Vietnam. Judging from the budget proposed by our President, it's becoming painfully obvious that we can't do both. And that, my fellow Americans, is the Faulking Truth.
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