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amy31416
04-12-2010, 11:50 AM
Some good local politics! Perhaps even some inspiration for local action when people realize just how much they're being sucked dry by these wars.

So on those days when you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude and corruption of the Federal Gov't, why not focus on local?



Tax Day and America’s Wars

What the mayor of one community hard hit by war spending is doing
by Jo Comerford

Matt Ryan, the mayor of Binghamton, New York, is sick and tired of watching people in local communities "squabble over crumbs," as he puts it, while so much local money pours into the Pentagon’s coffers and into America’s wars. He’s so sick and tired of it, in fact, that, urged on by local residents, he’s decided to do something about it. He’s planning to be the first mayor in the United States to decorate the façade of City Hall with a large, digital "cost of war" counter, funded entirely by private contributions.

That counter will offer a constantly changing estimate of the total price Binghamton’s taxpayers have been paying for our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001. By September 30, 2010, the city’s "war tax" will reach $138.6 million – or even more if, as expected, Congress passes an Obama administration request for supplemental funds to cover the president’s "surge" in Afghanistan. Mayor Ryan wants, he says, to put the counter "where everyone can see it, so that my constituents are urged to have a much-needed conversation."

In doing so, he’s joining a growing chorus of mayors, including Chicago’s Richard Daley and Boston’s Thomas Menino, who are ever more insistently drawing attention to what Ryan calls the country’s "skewed national priorities," especially the local impact of military and war spending. With more than three years left in his current term, Ryan has decided to pull out all the stops to reach his neighbors and constituents, all 47,000 of them, especially the near quarter of the city’s inhabitants who currently live below the poverty line and the 9 percent who are officially unemployed.

Read more, if you so choose: http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2010/04/11/your-taxes-and-war/

Light
04-12-2010, 11:58 AM
The sad thing is that he only wants to end the warfare state so that the welfare state can grow massively. That is pretty much why most liberals hate defense spending is because it takes away more shares from their piece of the pie.

brandon
04-12-2010, 11:59 AM
Some citizens should put a "Cost of Cost of War counter counter" on a billboard. :D


Pretty cool the mayor is doing this...even if I don't think it's the best use of taxpayer money.

Edit: Just read it's privately funded. /facepalm

amy31416
04-12-2010, 12:03 PM
The sad thing is that he only wants to end the warfare state so that the welfare state can grow massively. That is pretty much why most liberals hate defense spending is because it takes away more shares from their piece of the pie.

Yeah, but local welfare is a lot different than Federal--I don't judge what local citizens decide to do welfare-wise, unless I live there.


Some citizens should put a "Cost of Cost of War counter counter" on a billboard. :D

Pretty cool the mayor is doing this...even if I don't think it's the best use of taxpayer money.

LOL Saw your edit. NM.

Old Ducker
04-12-2010, 12:19 PM
What a great idea!...both to the mayor and the billboard.

tpreitzel
04-12-2010, 12:29 PM
How about the mayor adding a meter that displays the legal cost of legislation? Calculate the legal cost of legislation by estimating the number of additional lawyers that will be needed by a defendant when some activist judge eventually misinterprets the legislation. Then, estimate the city's part of this liability and display it. One indicator of a corrupt, over-bloated legal system is its specialization which is a direct consequence of too much statutory law. Few people can defend themselves anymore. Get rid of the legislation and get rid of lawyers along with their burden on the taxpayer. Back at the ranch, maybe we, the people, can convince the US Congress to attach a series of "human" icons (VAMPIRES) to legislation representing the number of new lawyers needed every time they pass another piece of unconstitutional legislation. ;)

slothman
04-12-2010, 12:32 PM
Has Obama's war spending passed Bush's yet?

P.S. the Rand Paul ad about this post looked like Obama for a second, shudder.

Vessol
04-12-2010, 01:09 PM
The sad thing is that he only wants to end the warfare state so that the welfare state can grow massively. That is pretty much why most liberals hate defense spending is because it takes away more shares from their piece of the pie.

At least it's better then wanting to continue the welfare state and our foreign policy(NeoConservatives). Also on the local stage and state stage welfare is the State's buisiness if they want to get involved or not.

LittleLightShining
04-12-2010, 01:10 PM
Some good local politics! Perhaps even some inspiration for local action when people realize just how much they're being sucked dry by these wars.

So on those days when you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude and corruption of the Federal Gov't, why not focus on local?



Read more, if you so choose: http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2010/04/11/your-taxes-and-war/

I saw the article on antiwar this morning and posted it to my facebook. Also sent it to some people I know running for state office.

amy31416
04-12-2010, 01:14 PM
I saw the article on antiwar this morning and posted it to my facebook. Also sent it to some people I know running for state office.

:)

Love that website.