Killing the Future

The Iraqnam war is now costing the U.S. one billion dollars a day. Today the Bushwarriors requested an additional $80 billion for the war. Other reports indicate that the U.S. expects to keep 120,000 troops in Iraqnam for another two years.

The new estimate of the U.S. budget deficit for this year is $437 billion. Yesterday, a British newspaper reported that European central banks plan to buy fewer dollars, as the U.S. dollar sinks in value, due in large part to the growing deficit.

The debt is financed to an increasingly degree by central banks in Japan and China, and so the fate of the U.S. economy rests largely in two individuals who make the decisions for those banks. A sudden and substantial fall in the dollar would have unforeseeable consequences for everyone in the U.S.

The budget deficit will be used by the Bushies to deny funding to programs that have already been stripped, adding to the ongoing crisis in health care and education.

As if this isn't enough, we are haunted by the highly damaging hurricanes and floods of 2004, and the already damaging floods and snowstorms of 2005, all of which require heavy government support for recovery and even survival. The frequency and ferocity of storms and other weather-related catastrophes will only increase, as yesterday's report on the climate crisis indicates. We will need government resources, as well as a healthy National Guard, more than ever.

The Vietnam war was very damaging, with consequences that still deform our national life. But in its power to kill the future, the Iraqnam war may be even worse.


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