 Last
week I told you that our soldiers' lives are for sale in
Washington and today, the Real Story is that we've finally
found out the price: $9.9 billion dollars. That's the amount
of, quote, "non-military spending" -- translation: PORK --
included in the House emergency war appropriations bill; a
bill that also sets an August 31, 2008 deadline for
withdrawing troops from Iraq...a date that is coincidentally
just 10 weeks before the presidential election.
I want to explain to you why this is such a big deal and I
think the best way to do that is by putting you in the
position of a politician who's actually trying to do the
right thing. Pretend, for just a second, that you're
Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave and you're 100
percent against setting a deadline for withdrawing our
troops. Last week, the emergency spending bill is released
and you notice that it happens to include $3.7 billion
dollars in agricultural assistance for ranchers; aid that
your Colorado farmers have been begging you for.
It's your ranchers or our soldiers...you can't have both:
what do you do?
Now you're Republican Congressman Charles Boustany and
you're against the troop withdrawal as well. For years
you've been lobbying for money to help your Louisiana rice
farmers hold the saltwater back from destroying their
crops....and for years you've been told: "no." Then, last
week, out of the blue, $15 million dollars suddenly fell
right into your lap; if only you'd vote for the war spending
bill.
It's your rice farmers or our soldiers...you can't have
both: what do you do?
There are literally dozens of politicians who are caught in
this exact trap. Sam Farr, from California, is being offered
$25 million for his hard-hit spinach growers; Bobby Jindal
from Louisiana can have $2.9 billion for desperately needed
Hurricane Katrina repairs; and Georgia Democrats can cash in
for $75 million dollars worth of peanut storage if they
would just turn against their own conscience.
And just in case some lawmaker was inadvertently left out of
the free-cash-for-votes extravaganza; Nancy Pelosi has
covered her bases by including the minimum wage hike as part
of this bill. So guess what, Democrats? A vote against
losing this war is now a vote against low-wage workers;
that's not exactly a popular platform if you're looking for
re-election.
A few weeks ago, during a press conference, President Bush
said, quote: "Money Trumps Peace sometimes." Think about
that, because as we sit here on the verge of trading
American lives for spinach, peanuts and rice, those words
will never ring more true.
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