I paid $162 for the war last year. How about you?

by: sschreiner

Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 02:43:25 PM EDT

Ever wondered exactly how much you pay for the war in Iraq? Wonder what that money could have paid for instead? Find out here.

sschreiner :: I paid $162 for the war last year. How about you?

When I filled out the Progressive Future Invest in US Calculator, I was stunned. I work for a nonprofit so I don't make a ton of money, but I would have thought my taxes would pay for at least one full second of war. Not even close.

Turns out I paid for .03 seconds of the Iraq war in 2007. That on its own is pretty shocking, but the part that really knocked my socks off was what I could have gotten for the same amount of money.

I could have provided health care for an uninsured American for 17 days. I could have provided 8 days of Head Start education for a preschooler. I could have broken one American home's addiction to oil for 61 days by providing renewable electricity. And I could have given higher education to an Iraq war veteran for 3 days.

These are the things that make me proud to pay my taxes. Paying for .03 seconds of an unnecessary and unjust war does not. We're calling on our elected officials, candidates and the DNC and RNC platform committees to make these priorities a reality when we have new leadership next year. I hope you'll take a look at the calculator and find out where your tax dollars are going, and tell our leaders or future leaders to get their priorities straight and start investing in our future.

Tags: cost of war, health care, Education, renewable energy, veterans, (All Tags)

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I paid $162 for the war last year. How about you? | 2 comments

Thanks for reading! (4.00 / 1)

I hope we can get a lot of New Jersey folks to join us in calling on our leaders to start investing in our future.

by: sschreiner @ Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 18:44:16 PM UTC

Wow! A first-time poster with progressive values! (0.00 / 0)

I didn't think we'd see another one of you before Election Day! Welcome aboard the GS Blue Jersey! (And I feel your pain vis a vis 501c3 salaries ... as one of my co-workers says, "See, we work for change! here my pay envelope jingling?")

by: denniscmcgrath @ Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 18:50:34 PM UTC

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