Where The Money Goes

[Joanne98]

by Norman Solomon

Early this winter, the PBS "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" interviewed the medical director at a community clinic in Northern California. He recalled the sight of military equipment moving along railroad tracks next to his office. "I've joked with my colleagues," Dr. David Katz said, "if we could just get one of those Abrams tanks we could probably fund all the primary care clinics for a year."

The comment didn't make it on the air - it was only included in video on a PBS Web site - and that was unfortunate. We need more public focus on what our tax dollars are buying.

As medical providers and patients struggle with low funding and high barriers to adequate health care, the nation's largesse for war continues to soar. Every day, the U.S. Treasury spends close to $2 billion on the military. Such big numbers are hard to fathom, but it's worth doing the math.

In Yolo County, for instance, where Dr. Katz watches Abrams tanks roll by his beleaguered clinic, taxpayers have already provided the IRS with $449.8 million to fund the Iraq war. That's enough to provide health care to 168,154 children for a full year.

Those figures come from the National Priorities Project, a nonpartisan group with a nifty - and often chilling - online calculator (www. nationalpriorities.org). Type in the name of your locality, and huge military costs suddenly hit close to home.

More than 40 percent of federal tax dollars go to military spending. The outlays buy a mighty war machine while depleting our own communities.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/26-5

[HowHasItComeToThis]

1. LET'S NATIONALISE.......

THE MILITARY:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Abrams tanks were a mistake 30 years ago & nothing has changed

The public is held hostage to these monster wastes of money & nothing can be done about it.