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Congress is about to pass an additional $32 billion to pay for the war In Afghanistan,.....

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robinblue Donating Member (385 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:31 PM
Original message
Congress is about to pass an additional $32 billion to pay for the war In Afghanistan,.....

btw, it is unpaid for-something Obama said he would not do-but here it is....




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Robert L. Borosage
Robert L. Borosage: What Is an Emergency?

Congress is about to pass an additional $32 billion to pay for the war In Afghanistan, while at the same time, it struggles with a $23 billion bill to forestall the layoff of nearly 300,000 teachers next year. What kind of country are we? In the worst economic recession in 70 years, competitive industrial nations must choose their priorities -- what gets saved, what must be sacrificed. No sensible leadership would choose to make children -- particularly the children of working and poor families -- pay the cost of the downturn.
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driver8 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:33 PM
Response to Original message
1. This country is so fucked.
It is pretty clear what the priorities of our government are. Education, no -- Death and Destruction, yes.

This really pisses me off.
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The Northerner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. +1
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HughMoran Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 10:29 PM
Response to Reply #1
13. Yes, this funding was a real shock
I thought we were just gonna stop funding it and it would just go away, ya know?
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driver8 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:32 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. The funding of the wars isn't a shock...
it's the realization that education is at the bottom of the list of priorities for this country that makes me so angry.
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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:38 PM
Response to Original message
3. It's not a zero-sum game. And it's not about "leadership."
Nothing needs to be "sacrificed." Find the political will to do anything and you can find the money. Or print it, for crying out loud.

Afghanistan is a great example. We can't afford that, any more than we can afford anything else at the moment, like paving highways. But it's popular, so the check is written. Paying for teachers' salaries? Not popular. Ending poverty? Not popular.

It's not about "leadership." It's about this country's priorities. We elect 'em, you know. They do what they need to in order to get our vote again.

Sell the country on an idea, and you can always pay for it.

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paparush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 03:02 PM
Response to Reply #3
8. Popular with who? Defense contractors?
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elias49 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 10:25 PM
Response to Reply #3
11. Afghan war is "popular"? Really?
Because the American people have been given stagecraft and promises, it may poll well. So did Iraq II because the Iraqis had "WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION" when the stage managers knew they didn't. It's a huge and high-stakes public relations campaign that convinces the public at large to support war. It happened before WWI. Americans weren't particularly interested in committiung troops to a war in Europe...not until the spinmasters created enough fear to sway public opinion.
Afghan war popular. Bullshit.
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Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:38 PM
Response to Original message
4. "Bring it on!" "Smoke 'em out!" without the cowboy boots. K&R
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ladjf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:42 PM
Response to Original message
5. We need to get the hell out of Afghanistan now. nt
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unhappycamper Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:45 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. And Iraq.
And Yemen.

And Somalia.

And Pakistan.

And Bahrain.

And Diego Garcia.

And Japan.

And Columbia.

And.....
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ladjf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 09:59 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. Thank you. I was too lazy to write all of that out. nt
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gratuitous Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 02:57 PM
Response to Original message
7. I keep hearing change is too hard to actually do
And my good and faithful fellow DUers spend a great number of electrons trying to persuade me that things like spending $32 billion to keep Afghanistan on its wobbly course is just something we have to do. And extending unemployment benefits for our own citizens, fucked by a crippled economy, is something that can just go by the boards.

Don't question it, just live it. I know I'm horribly, gut-wrenchingly wrong on this, but changing into such a callous, cynical fuckwad is hard for me. I'll keep trying, though.
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tekisui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 10:07 PM
Response to Original message
10. $223 MILLION A DAY
spent on the Afghanistan War.
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ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 10:27 PM
Response to Original message
12. Yet another broken campaign promise?
Billions for death and destruction but we don't have funding to take care of our sick and elderly citizens?

Lovely.
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Blue_Tires Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:38 AM
Response to Original message
15. where are the teabag budget deficit hawks NOW?
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-27-10 10:39 AM
Response to Original message
16. Deleted message
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