A Glimmer of Reason
As much as he exasperates me, sometimes I really have to take my hat off to my local alderman. Since I'm on the ward's e-mail list, I get his weekly bulletins, and something I read in today's note really caught my eye and impressed me:
"According to the nonpartisan National Priorities Project, Chicago taxpayers alone have spent $4.8 billion dollars on the war in Iraq. If you divide that number by Chicago's 50 wards, the 49th Ward's share of that amount is $96 million.
Think about it. Ninety-six million of our hard-earned dollars went to that stupid and disastrous and immoral war. We could have used that money to rebuild our crumbling el stations, hire scores of new police officers, provide hundreds of 49th Ward families with quality affordable housing, and extend health care coverage to thousands of 49th Ward families.
And Chicago could have balanced its budget and avoided any tax increases with just a small fraction of the $4.8 billion city taxpayers sent to Iraq."
"Disastrous and immoral?" Wow! Now THAT'S real communication. This is a guy who many of us see as snuggling into cahoots with developers to build more and more useless condos in our already-saturated neighborhood and pushing out the working families. (We get used to thinking this sort of thing when we continually see apartment buildings being torn down in our neighborhood--because what happens to the people who lived there?) To see this sort of statement from him when the elections are already over indicates that he means what he says. It's nice to see that we agree on something.
On the other hand, I was stunned to see how much my neighborhood had actually shelled out for the war--$96 million?? Jesus, no wonder our taxes are so fricking high.
I can't imagine what they're like in desirable neighborhoods...
UPDATE: Check out this incredible figure, estimating what each of us will end up having paid for these wars over 10 years. I think I may have already topped that figure!
"According to the nonpartisan National Priorities Project, Chicago taxpayers alone have spent $4.8 billion dollars on the war in Iraq. If you divide that number by Chicago's 50 wards, the 49th Ward's share of that amount is $96 million.
Think about it. Ninety-six million of our hard-earned dollars went to that stupid and disastrous and immoral war. We could have used that money to rebuild our crumbling el stations, hire scores of new police officers, provide hundreds of 49th Ward families with quality affordable housing, and extend health care coverage to thousands of 49th Ward families.
And Chicago could have balanced its budget and avoided any tax increases with just a small fraction of the $4.8 billion city taxpayers sent to Iraq."
"Disastrous and immoral?" Wow! Now THAT'S real communication. This is a guy who many of us see as snuggling into cahoots with developers to build more and more useless condos in our already-saturated neighborhood and pushing out the working families. (We get used to thinking this sort of thing when we continually see apartment buildings being torn down in our neighborhood--because what happens to the people who lived there?) To see this sort of statement from him when the elections are already over indicates that he means what he says. It's nice to see that we agree on something.
On the other hand, I was stunned to see how much my neighborhood had actually shelled out for the war--$96 million?? Jesus, no wonder our taxes are so fricking high.
I can't imagine what they're like in desirable neighborhoods...
UPDATE: Check out this incredible figure, estimating what each of us will end up having paid for these wars over 10 years. I think I may have already topped that figure!
posted by Aaron at 10:53 AM
2 Comments:
This war is costing billions of dollars (on credit), the reputation of our country abroad and our civil rights. Why won't Congress stand up to this disaster of a president? It's their effing job. I hope all of them learn who is really their boss next election.
Did you catch Rep. Richard Stark apologizing for blasting Bush on the war. Nancy Pelosi wouldn't stand behind him and the House actually voted to censure him over his statement (it didn't pass). WTF!
Nancy Pelosi has turned out to be the most useless person on earth, with the possible exception of one of the Carson ex-wives. As soon as the Dems captured the majority, she just rolled right over and licked the Republicans' legs. She has it all backwards.
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