[CTRL] What Would $87 Billion Buy? (Michael Moore)

[Sean McBride]

Title: Berkeley Daily Planet

-Caveat Lector- http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=10-28-03&storyID=17652 Berkeley Daily Planet Edition Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 Article Back to Mainpage Index of Sections What Would $87 Billion Buy? By MICHAEL MOORE (10-28-03) If you can't get through this list without wanting to throw up, I'll understand. But pass it around anyway. This is the nail in the Iraq War's coffin for any sane, thinking individual, regardless of their political stripe (thanks to TomPaine.com and the Center for American Progress). To get some perspective, here are some real-life comparisons about what $87 Billion means: $87 Billion is more than the combined total of all state budget deficits in the United States. The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] $87 Billion is enough to pay the 3.3 million people who have lost jobs under George W. Bush $26,363 each! The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of this year provides zero benefits to "workers who exhausted their regular, state unemployment benefits and cannot find work." All told, two-thirds of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities] $87 Billion is more than double the total amount the government spends on homeland security. The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote, "America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs" for homeland security without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations] $87 Billion is 87 times the amount the federal government spends on after school programs. George W. Bush proposed a budget that reduces the $1 billion for after-school programs to $600 million—cutting off about 475,000 children from the program. [Source: The Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee] $87 Billion is more than 10 times what the government spends on all environmental protection. The Bush administration requested just $7.6 billion for the entire Environmental Protection Agency. This included a 32 percent cut to water quality grants, a 6 percent reduction in enforcement staff, and a 50 percent cut to land acquisition and conservation. [Source: Natural Resources Defense Council] www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om