The War Burns Through $100,000 Every Minute

Message from Matt Holland @ TrueMajority:

->Dear reader,

President George Bush has come to Congress – to the American people, really – to ask for another $65 billion for war in the Middle East. It’s the fourth time in three years the Administration has asked for extra, unplanned billions to be taken from other needs. What will he do with the money? We’re told this $65 billion (in addition to the $241 billion spent so far¹) will be used to "stay the course."

Problem is, no one - not Mr. Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney nor Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – seems to know what "the course" is. All citizens are offered is more of the same policies - the same policies which have led Iraq to the brink of civil war and bogged our troops in a hopeless quagmire.

Enough is enough!

Let’s tell Congress that it’s time to use their Constitutional authority to protect our nation’s resources. If we can collect 40,000 messages, we’ll deliver them to their Washington offices before Congress votes on this $65 billion request.

Visit the following website:

http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/warspending/w3bxguw2v5bbbkj?

While the President "stays the course," the war’s human and financial toll is mounting. Over 2,200 American soldiers have died and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed.²

The war is costing about $4.5 billion per month, or about $100,000 per minute, and the Office of Management and Budget has stated that no one knows how much it will cost this year and into the future.³

The President’s latest $70 billion request comes on top of $50 billion already earmarked for this year, bringing the total to $120 billion and fueling deficit spending that last year totaled more than $400 billion.⁴

The tight budget in Washington, coupled with the Administration’s insistence on moving forward with billions in tax cuts, is preventing our country from doing great things that could make so many dreams come true that it’s just heartbreaking.

For $70 billion, America could—for example—save 6 million kids who die each year of hunger-related disease in impoverished countries. And it could do this each year for 5 years! ⁵

Tell your Member of Congress to vote against spending $70 billion more on the Iraq war. Click here.

Thanks for all that you do,

Matt Holland
TrueMajority Coordinator

¹ "Cost of War." National Priorities Project.

² U.S. military deaths in Iraq.

³ "Bush Administration's War Spending Nears Half-Trillion Dollars." ABC News, 2/17/06.

⁴ "$70 billion sought for war costs." Chicago Tribune, 2/3/06.

⁵ "Hunger Basics." Bread for the World.