Afghanistan withdrawal is about U.S. economic priorities

[bigtree]

...for one.

Dan Rather @DanRather 17h
How much money did we spend in Afghanistan over the last 20 years that we were told we could never afford to spend at home?

Link to tweet

[jimfields33]

1. We can afford them

Minimum wage was voted down. Medicare for all hasn’t been seriously voted on yet. Biden will forgive partial student loans.

[comradebillyboy]

2. President Biden did not run on Medicare for All or

student debt forgiveness. Why oh why do people think joe Biden is obliged to fulfill Bernie Sanders campaign promises?

[bigtree]

5. the House bill has 117 co-sponsors

...https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976/cosponsors

Cosponsor Date Cosponsored
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]*
Rep. Barragan, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44]*
Rep. Bass, Karen [D-CA-37]*
Rep. Beyer, Donald S., Jr. [D-VA-8]*
Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]*
Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. [D-PA-2]*
Rep. Brown, Anthony G. [D-MD-4]*
Rep. Bush, Cori [D-MO-1]*
Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]*
Rep. Cardenas, Tony [D-CA-29]*
Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7]*
Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-8]*
Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27]*
Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1]*
Rep. Clark, Katherine M. [D-MA-5]*
Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9]*
Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5]*
Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4]*
Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1]*
Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-11]*
Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-12]*
Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-35]*
Rep. Doyle, Michael F. [D-PA-18]*
Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16]*
Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13]*
Rep. Frankel, Lois [D-FL-21]*
Rep. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ-7]*
Rep. Garcia, Jesus G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]*
Rep. Gomez, Jimmy [D-CA-34]*
Rep. Green, Al [D-TX-9]*
Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-3]*
Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-10]*
Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20]*
Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5]*
Rep. Higgins, Brian [D-NY-26]*
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2]*
Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]*
Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-53]*
Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8]*
Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [D-GA-4]*
Rep. Jones, Mondaire [D-NY-17]*
Rep. Kahele, Kaiali'i [D-HI-2]*
Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9]*
Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2]*
Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17]*
Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5]*
Rep. Langevin, James R. [D-RI-2]*
Rep. Lawrence, Brenda L. [D-MI-14]*
Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13]*
Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3]*
Rep. Levin, Andy [D-MI-9]*
Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49]*
Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33]*
Rep. Lowenthal, Alan S. [D-CA-47]*
Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12]*
Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2]*
Rep. McNerney, Jerry [D-CA-9]*
Rep. Meeks, Gregory W. [D-NY-5]*
Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6]*
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10]*
Rep. Napolitano, Grace F. [D-CA-32]*
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]*
Rep. Newman, Marie [D-IL-3]*
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]*
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [D-NY-14]*
Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5]*
Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20]*
Rep. Payne, Donald M., Jr. [D-NJ-10]*
Rep. Perlmutter, Ed [D-CO-7]*
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]*
Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]*
Rep. Porter, Katie [D-CA-45]*
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]*
Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8]*
Rep. Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D-CA-40]*
Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1]*
Del. Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [D-MP-At Large]*
Rep. Sanchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38]*
Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3]*
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]*
Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28]*
Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3]*
Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-30]*
Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9]*
Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-14]*
Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-15]*
Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-41]*
Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]*
Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-5]*
Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1]*
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-13]*
Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20]*
Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15]*
Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3]*
Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-51]*
Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33]*
Rep. Velazquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7]*
Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43]*
Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]*
Rep. Welch, Peter [D-VT-At Large]*
Rep. Wild, Susan [D-PA-7]*
Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5]*
Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24]*
Rep. Yarmuth, John A. [D-KY-3]*
Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6]*
Rep. Price, David E. [D-NC-4]*
Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5]
Rep. Mfume, Kweisi [D-MD-7]
Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4]
Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19]
Rep. Stansbury, Melanie Ann [D-NM-1]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976/

[comradebillyboy]

6. So what?

[AZProgressive]

8. I don't expect M4A

During Biden’s term but I expect some form of universal health care eventually and Biden used Warren’s plan to fix the bankruptcy bill mistake in the final debate to forgive student debt to appeal to the kind of voters that were considering Bernie Sanders.

[bigtree]

11. so it's not about your political bias against Sanders

...which is usually the response from critics, instead of addressing the actual initiative.

You can't pigeonhole this initiative by demonizing Sanders. As someone who doesn't give him any attention at all, this sort of demagoguery falls flat on me.

[comradebillyboy]

14. I doubt if M4A could get 30 votes in the Senate.

This has nothing to do with my opinion of Sanders. Neither M4A nor student loan forgiveness have the votes to pass in either the House or Senate in the foreseeable future. Which is why President Biden isn't wasting time on either issue.

[AZProgressive]

17. Student loan forgiveness is closer to promises Biden made

Biden promised to veto m4a because of “costs” which is why I’m not wasting my time on the issue.

[comradebillyboy]

18. I think Biden advocated forgiving $10K of debt

per student. I don't know if he has the power to unilaterally forgive loans. Maybe that could fit in the 3.5 trillion package. I don't think total debt forgiveness is in the cards but some serious student loan reform is in order.

If the Dems expand their Senate majority and manage to keep the House in 2022 many good things are possible. If not, it's back to gridlock.

[AZProgressive]

9. That list includes some terrific Reps

[bigtree]

12. it really does

...and belies the notion that this is some 'far left' initiative, as some would lead us to believe.

[Firestorm49]

3. Exactly what I stated on another post. With some re-appropriation we can fund major programs

right here.

[Hoyt]

4. The amount we spent in Afghanistan wouldn't come close to covering Medicare-for-All. The 20 year

war expenditure -- 2 Trillion or roughly $100 Billion per year -- isn't even 5% of a M4A budget.

With that said, we could have used it for something else, or a small down payment on healthcare for everyone.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. The "savings"

can go towards whatever they are putting together for the "Human Infrastructure" reconciliation bill.

[malaise]

10. But but but

Big oil, MIC and other vested interests made gazillions

That is all

[leftstreet]

13. Why do people think $$ saved would flow to us?

Over and over you hear "think how we could have spent that money"

as if "we" ever get a say in it

[bigtree]

15. it's about setting national priorities

...and I think we can become too cynical about the money Congress spends, much of it buried in military budgets supporting the occupation.

It's always going to be a fight for resources, but it makes sense to highlight where we put the bulk of it as we watch legislators complain about spending when it comes to U.S. domestic priorities.

[leftstreet]

16. good points

I'm cynical today