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Rep. Alan Grayson Introduces the "War Is Making You Poor" Act
The bill would cut the DoD's budget and use that money to make the first $35,000 each American earns tax-free.
May 23, 2010 |
Last week, as Congress prepared to pass yet another “emergency” spending bill to cover America’s costly operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- to the tune of $159 billion this time around -- Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida, introduced a bill that would force the Pentagon to pick up the tab out of its ample regular budget.
The War Is Making You Poor Act is elegant in its simplicity. Instead of financing these longstanding conflicts outside of the regular budgeting process, where they’re not factored into deficit projections, Grayson’s bill would make the DoD work within its means, and the money would instead be used for an across-the-board tax cut that would make the first $35,000 each American earns tax-free.
“The purpose of this bill,” wrote Grayson last week, “is to connect the dots, and to show people in a real and concrete way the cost of these endless wars.” It’s not just the costs of active shooting wars; with hundreds of bases overseas, as far as the defense budget is concerned Americans have been on a permanent wartime footing, to varying degrees, since Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. “War is a permanent feature of our societal landscape,” wrote Grayson, “so much so that no one notices it anymore.”
the rest of the article is here....http://www.alternet.org/story/146973/rep._alan_grayson_introduces_the_%22war_is_making_you_poor%22_act?page=1
May 23, 2010 |
Last week, as Congress prepared to pass yet another “emergency” spending bill to cover America’s costly operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- to the tune of $159 billion this time around -- Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida, introduced a bill that would force the Pentagon to pick up the tab out of its ample regular budget.
The War Is Making You Poor Act is elegant in its simplicity. Instead of financing these longstanding conflicts outside of the regular budgeting process, where they’re not factored into deficit projections, Grayson’s bill would make the DoD work within its means, and the money would instead be used for an across-the-board tax cut that would make the first $35,000 each American earns tax-free.
“The purpose of this bill,” wrote Grayson last week, “is to connect the dots, and to show people in a real and concrete way the cost of these endless wars.” It’s not just the costs of active shooting wars; with hundreds of bases overseas, as far as the defense budget is concerned Americans have been on a permanent wartime footing, to varying degrees, since Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. “War is a permanent feature of our societal landscape,” wrote Grayson, “so much so that no one notices it anymore.”
the rest of the article is here....http://www.alternet.org/story/146973/rep._alan_grayson_introduces_the_%22war_is_making_you_poor%22_act?page=1
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Comments
It's time for the US government to start cutting its costs and start keeping money in the pockets of earners.
Please note that the article in question said nothing about cutting the actual defense budget.
Plain and simple, disagree with the war(s) if you must, I fight for that freedom, but don't target the purse strings for the equipment and supplies that soldiers in harms way need. In all honesty, Alan Grayson probably just committed political suicide.
Would that be b.c. or a.d.?
Palzang
Palzang
I doubt the Representative has any notion of the bill actually passing, and I doubt he means for it. Seems to me he's doing this to raise awareness about the issue. Most Americans blindly support military conflict after military conflict without ever pausing to consider the cost.
Sad, but true. And yet, I still find people, even health care providers (!!) who think that there is somehow something bad about universal access to health care, or universal insurance coverage. I have a couple of bumper stickers on the back of my car, one of which says "Got Health Care?" and the other which says "Who would Jesus insure?". The other day a guy pulled up next to me, rolled his window down, and said "Jesus believes in personal responsibility!". I really wanted to ask him what bible verse that comes from
Mtns
Read "The Great Game" by Peter Hopkirk. Afghanistan has been unwinnable since the time of Alexander, and remains so. Unless and until the people of Afghanistan want to change themselves, nobody, including the almighty United States is going to do it for them. The concept of "winning" in Afghanistan is an oxymoron.
Mtns
Takea, how many Americans actually support these expensive confilcts without expecting results? I don't. My life is on the line. There better be long term positive results from such a conflict. Failure is simply not an option in the Middle East. We've committed too much in the GWOT to turn around and give up.
Pali, due to time constraints, I"m only about a third of the way through the video. I'm going to try and finish it in the next few days, and I will take some notes and hit some serious talking points about it. I can say this much. What I know about the Afghanistan conflict is the tip of the iceburg. What they put in the video is the cubes in your ice tea.