An excerpt from a recent email of Alan Grayson:
"Here’s some simple arithmetic. We’ve budgeted $159.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, through next month. (The true cost is much more, but let’s leave that aside.)
That’s: $159,300,000,000.00.
You could take all that money and create 5,310,000 jobs here in America paying $30,000 a year, rebuilding our bridges, our roads, our schools, instead of the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would immediately lower the unemployment rate from 9 percent to 5.5 percent, and get money flowing in our communities again.Now, that’s a job program."
I am beginning to think that Alan Grayson is the last man in the country with any common sense...besides moi...and my readers, of course ;-)
26 comments:
And he lost his job to Dan Webster. With all of his talk, apparently he didn't DO much to impress his constituents. He received 38% of votes to Dan's 56%. Makes you wonder doesn't it?
Grayson said a lot of things that got him elected but he turned out to be a little too radical for his aging, south Florida constituency, who are mostly pretty hard core conservatives. But what he espouses isn't new, many people have been saying the same thing for years, including me and our gracious host, JJ. Of course, who listens to JJ?
PS. Like the new header... I think. Sure is depressing, but a great graphic.
Sherry---Well, no not really. Being a displaced native Floridian, and having lived in Central Florida, I consider it a miracle that he ever got elected in the first place. It is a hotbed of bible-thumping, right-wing, reactionary "constituency". Having gotten elected, Grayson was earmarked by the Republican party to be attacked at every opportunity with the object of shutting him down.
Mr. C---Precisely. But I get fucking tired of hearing that we (me, him, you and any other progressive type) need to temper our remarks and ideas to "get along" with a gang of self-serving assholes. Seriously.
Mr. C2---Thanks...I think. OK, yes, it is. My mood these days, methinks.
There is an anger loose in the nation today that is not based on logic. They, who every 'they' are just want revenge. They just hate any and all that are not like them, including the hate.
Re: Grayson it ain't over till it's over.
I wish Grayson would run for president.
Punch---Grayson, being younger than I, gives me hope that all is not lost.
Professor---I ditto that.
Wow, spending the money here helping Americans instead of spending it over there and killing Muslims. What a novel concept!
So Grayson's idea is that our guys would stop shooting at poor brown people in far off lands under the pretense of improving their lives, bring our guys home instead, give them and their neighbors money to repair the sidewalks and firetrucks right here in our own towns? Hmmmm! This is a bizarre concept, if you follow that to it's conclusion it would mean the kids in junior high now may not have to go kill brown people till battle fatigue nums their soul. We had a country like that one other time, but it ended with the previous Texas cowboy rode to Washington.
Jerry---Yep. But dealing with the American penchant for killing is a Don Quixote endeavor, methinks.
yellow---I'm sorry, your comment passed mine in the night.
Yeah, and his fucking insane deputy is coming to town...or trying to. Scary shit going on here.
If we would stop spending on wars the "Military Industrial Complex" would go tits-up and then where would we be??? Besides, we can't provide jobs for the rabble as they would just squander it on foolish things like food and shelter and while that would improve the economy, the powers-that-be are saying, "It's my money and I want it NOW!!!"
Kulkuri---You're probably right. A better approach has already been suggested by that deep cess pool thinker, Erect Can'tor. Just pull such stupid program monies as disaster relief, and we can continue to extend our penises to bomb the fuck out of Middle-eastern desert countries. This alone will create many jobs...in the medical field. Fuck a bunch of whiny unemployed homeless people.
There's an obvious right-wing answer to this, much of which is already going on. Bring our boys home from shooting dark-skinned people over there and let 'em start shooting dark-skinned people over here. That way we can curb the street crime problem and keep the Military Industrial Complex happy at the same time.
"I am beginning to think that Alan Grayson is the last man in the country with any common sense..."
Which is why the Powers That Be, with plenty of help from their inbred useful idiots, drove Alan Grayson out of office.
Mr. C---Why do you hate Amurica?
Tom---Yep, and they did it with chump change and chumps.
Some of this conversation reminded me of the "George Carlin - We Like War" video.
"We like war because we're good at it. We're good at it because we get a lot of practice. It's a good thing we are, we're not good at anything else anymore. We can't build anything, BUT WE CAN BOMB THE SHIT OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY, ALRIGHT! Especially if your country is full of brown people..."
George Carlin was the greates!!!
Chimp---As you know, George Carlin was the man, as far as I am concerned. He cut through the bullshit. He left us too soon, and I would dearly love to hear his take on recent events...it would not be pretty. And let me add...Molly Irvins, another cut to the quick and through the crap observer. I miss them both.
we need to bring them home and stop spending the money period.
YD G---Just plain common sense, isn't it.
I believe the people of south Florida are having a bit of buyers remorse with Mr. Webster considering he'd just love to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I'd bet anything he signed the Grover Norquist pledge card.
Demeur---One can only hope. But he represents a very conservative constiuency. The irony is, and typical Republican, he lives in Winter Park, a high rent part of the Orlando area.
Your bet is a sure one.
great comments on the post... which was also absolutely sensible.
i sometimes wonder if good ideas are the victims not necessarily of their creators, although that could be the case, but also of just dumb luck on the timing.
Harlequin---As aways, you are a kind soul.
As to your wonder...an unanswerable question, methinks.
I notice the "true cost is much more" bit.
I try not to get angry with how badly the Middle East has been handled. If it's just money that's lost, that's bad enough. But we're also talking lives which is far worse.
Jenny Woolf---I agree. And insult to injury to all of the dead, and I mean all including many innocent civilians, to use money that could solve many economic problems...is just damned evil.
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