sean’s place

The Wheels on the Bus

As I sit here (in the Double Tree in Colorado Springs — avoid this hotel at all costs), I’m reflecting on the interesting conversation I just had with two fellow Larimer Democrats who attended the Assembly and Convention with me. Thanks to Roland and Diane for their thoughts.

We talked a bit about the seemingly unified themes coming out of the Colorado (and to an extent, the national) campaigns — themes like alternative (maybe we should say “smarter”) energy, health care, and ending the war in Iraq. These things are rallying points for Democrats and ideas amenable to some Republicans. The focal point for the message contrast seems to be our current administration and their friends in Congress.

Lets take the war in Iraq as an example. Betsy Markey, Mark Udall, and Barack Obama are both calling for a smart withdrawal of our troops from the region. One of their main arguments is the sheer cost of the war — some put it in the high billions, even trillions. Unless we’ve found a way to literally grow wealth on trees, if these numbers are even slightly accurate, we’re plunging ourselves into massive debt in order to finance the war. This is interesting, because unlike some other wars we’ve fought: we haven’t raised taxes to pay for this war.

Americans are an intensely generous people. We send aid at the drop of a hat to regions devastated by natural disaster: China, Myanmar (as we can), Indonesia, and New Orleans to name a few. Ostensibly our goal in Iraq is to rebuild their infrastructure, economy, and deliver a democratic regime friendly to our interests; noble goals, to be sure.

Why haven’t we, as a people, been asked to help this effort (short of enlisting)?

Iraq is war-torn (we should know, we did the a lot of the tearing) and country desperately in need. Why haven’t we seen a national push to give aid to our brothers and sisters there? Our troops, who do good work there, don’t work for free and we certainly know that their equipment isn’t free. Installing and maintaining a logistical support base also can’t be a small cost. So, to my friends who support the war in Iraq: I suspect you think of yourselves as the fiscally-responsible sort, so, would you accept a tax increase to pay for this war?