Sep 17
Poverty, War and Priorities
More people live in poverty while we the people pay obscene amounts to finance war. What’s wrong with this picture?
1 in 7 U.S. people living in poverty
“The percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years, the Census Bureau reported Thursday, and interviews with poverty experts and aid groups said the increase appeared to be continuing this year.” Source: Recession Raises Poverty Rate to a 15-Year High - NYTimes.com
More money spent on war
According to the Center for Defense Information, the estimated cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach $1.08 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2010.
Read more: Estimated War-Related Costs, Iraq and Afghanistan — Infoplease.com
Crazy priorities
According to the National Priorities Project taxpayers in Mississippi, a state with 1 in 5 people earning below the poverty level, will pay $663.4 million for proposed total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending in FY2011. For the same amount of money, 83,746 people in Mississippi could receive low income healthcare for one year.
Use the interactive calculator at NPP to see the Federal Budget tradeoffs for your city or state.
How do we stop the craziness and reorder our priorities? Your idea?
