How many times have you seen a Very Serious Discussion amongst the Very Serious People who populate our DC bubble about the cost of war?
How many times have you ever seen Congress talk about the escalating price tag of our military?
How many times have you seen a "deficit hawk" go up and say "Hey, we might not have a hundred billion for the next phase of this occupation?"
I bet if you have, it was in black and white, or on a 4:3 ratio TV screen. Certainly, you haven't seen much talk like that recently, in the 16:9 hi-def color TV world of today.
We ALWAYS have a huge sack of money sitting somewhere when it comes time to send thousands of soldiers overseas. ALWAYS. We've NEVER had to cancel a military operation because of some overriding concern about where the dollars were coming from.
Simply put, when the war-mongers in our elite decide they need an international police action, our government obligingly prints off stacks of cash and just does it.
So, when I hear right-wing hyperventilating about the deficit, I remember that those same mother-fuckers NEVER EVEN HAD THE BALLS to put the Iraq War's costs into the national budget. No, Bush would wait until the regular budget was done, and then slither in front of the cameras and demand tens or hundreds of billions to fund the occupation. The money as far as I can tell was literally printed as we needed it.
It's late at night so I'll be uncharacteristically brief: the problem with our national budget is a priorities issue, nothing more. Our priorities have been clearly outlined by the voters: JOBS NOW. Deficits are frankly irrelevant to most people.
There has never once been a time in our nation's history when we've faced a real crisis due to our debt. NEVER. There is no description for what that catastrophe might look like, because it doesn't happen. After WWII, we had over 120% debt/GDP ratio. The nation did not go "bankrupt." Nations with reliable credit histories (who haven't been loan-sharked by the IMF) do not have a bankruptcy problem.
This is strictly an issue of priorities. And in my book, police actions in foreign nations are no longer an American priority. Americans are an American priority.
How the hell hard is that to figure out?
How the hell hard can that be to sell to the voting public?
Americans are America's #1 priority. Period. We should start acting like it. We are literally entitled to because those dollars are created with our work, our sweat, our trust, our integrity.
