By Alfred Buono
Guest Op Ed Writer
I watched a bit of Senator Conrad’s interview on C-Span this morning and was not at all impressed with his statements regarding the approach to the Bush Budget and budgets into the future. I believe his views and the views of many in the Congress need immediate re-prioritizing.
Why is it that in addressing the issue of budgets and curbing expenses, the first and ostensibly the only issues on the table are those of Entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
It is obvious that the US has been running a major deficit since 2001 and our national debt is fast approaching $7-trillion. But it is not Entitlements which should be singled out as responsible for this.
Without political polemic about the ongoing Iraq Occupation, this major misadventure will probably total out at some $2-trillion according to Joseph Stiglitz and other economists; this does not include additional cost of Iraq rebuilding and reparations which would probably add another trillion or more.
And no one seems to be seriously addressing the burgeoning chasm of inequality within the country which has only been exacerbated by egregious and arrogant tax cuts which most benefit the wealthiest 1% of American families. Even Bush paid lip-service to the incidence of CEO bonuses and pay scales when compared to wages of blue-collar and white collar middle and lower management employees.
Yet tax cuts seem destined for eternal projection.
The past November elections were remarkable in that the American people spoke out loudly and clearly about issues which were and are most important to the ordinary and not privileged of this country: the end of the war, universal health care, improved education, etc, et al.
Ask yourself, why can we not afford an universal health plan that might cost $250-billion when we can afford to spend several times that on a bedraggle war of energy empire in the Middle East. Why can we afford to maintain more than 800 military installations from air bases to major army and marine corps bases in nearly every country of the world and cannot
afford to feed our hungry and house our homeless.
The priorities of this nation are sadly skewed. They need redressing. And they need it now.
