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Homeland Insecurity
U.S. Schools, Middle Class, Poor Take Shelling

Mondo Washington by James Ridgeway

The Village Voice (NY)
http://www.villagevoice.com/print/is...323/mondo1.php


June 4-10, 2003


The Council on Foreign Relations estimates the cost of
occupying Iraq with 75,000 troops at $20 billion a
year. But the real cost is likely to be higher since we
have 125,000 troops in Iraq now. How long they will be
there is anybody's guess, because commanders were
reported as saying last week that the fighting is not
yet over.

If the Iraq war adds to the growing deficit, so does
the fact that under Rumsfeld's command the Pentagon has
somehow lost track of $1 trillion worth of materiel.
According to a study from the GAO, conducted late last
year, those losses include 56 planes, 32 tanks, and 36
Javelin cruise missile command launch units.

Then there are the little things, like the cost of
blowing up Saddam's bunker. Bush said he had to start
the war early on March 20 so as to kill Saddam, his
sons, and other top officials at a secret meeting in a
bunker. According to reports last week, that bunker did
not exist.

But consider what it cost, according to estimates by an
analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-
Proliferation:

Two stealth fighters, at $1,500 an hour each for three
hours: $9,000

Two Navy Prowlers as escort, at $4,000 an hour. Total
for three hours: $24,000

Two bunker-buster bombs, at $60,000 a pop. Total:
$120,000

Two Tomahawk missiles, at $750,000 to $1 million each.
Total: $2 million

The grand total? Somewhere between $1.6 million and
$2.2 million to take out a nonexistent bunker.

That might not seem like much, the way the Pentagon
throws around money, but it would pay for at least 1
million school lunches (at $2.14 each) for kids from
poor families.

Meanwhile, back at the White House, Bush knows he's got
to do something about the economy for re-election. As a
purported stimulus plan, he pushes through Congress a
tax-refund plan on stock dividends. Over half of all
Americans don't own stock, and most of those who do
hold piddling amounts. But the theory is that if you
give the rich a break, they'll spend money on capital
goods and services that will trickle down to create
jobs, the rich tide lifting all boats. Few economists
think that is very likely to happen. But one thing is
for sure. The tax plan is a great windfall for the
president and his cabinet.

The total estimated tax savings, on dividends and
capital gains, that Cheney, Bush, and the cabinet are
likely to enjoy under the tax-cut plan will run
anywhere from $800,993 to $3.2 million, according to an
analysis by L.A. Democratic congressman Henry Waxman,
the ranking minority member of the House Committee on
Government Reform.

This averages out to at least $42,000 per cabinet
member-and as much as $167,000. Cheney would come out a
happy camper, with about $116,000 saved, and Rumsfeld
reaps as much as $604,000. Colin Powell, forever the
good guy, will make out quite nicely, gaining anywhere
from $109,506 to $670,150.

The tax refund is a rip-off for the rich. Benefits to
the top 1 percent of all taxpayers will average
$11,483. The 80 percent of taxpayers who earn $77,000
or less come out with a miserable $29.50.

The three largest shareholders among officers and
directors of Fortune 100 companies will save an
estimated $120 million a year in total, meaning an
annual average of $400,000 each. All told, these 300
execs will gain $1.3 billion over 10 years.

To cover the cost of the giveaways to Bush's inner
circle, the 300 execs, and others-not to mention
covering $1 trillion of Pentagon losses caused by lousy
management-Bush will cut back the nation's social
welfare programs.

Education, one of the president's domestic priorities
("Leave no child behind"), is apparently first to go
under the knife. Examples:

â?¢ Tens of thousands of California teachers already have
received layoff notices. They had been hired over the
last few years to reduce class size. The classes are
climbing back to where they were.

â?¢ In Colorado, schools are going to a four-day week to
trim costs. Local businesses are trying to help out by
purchasing classroom supplies and groceries for
teachers.

â?¢ Two-thirds of Florida's pre-kindergarten programs
have been axed.

â?¢ A newly built library in Hawaii has no books.

â?¢ Parents in Idaho are raising teachers' salaries
through bake sales.

â?¢ Half the school districts in Kansas have cut staff,
and some now charge students to participate in
extracurricular events.

Elsewhere, more than 41 million people have no health
insurance, and those numbers are believed to have
increased under Bush. Half of all women who get
pregnant don't get prenatal care because they don't
have the money. Half of the nation's personal
bankruptcies occur because of medical debts. Neither
the administration nor Congress is any closer to a
health-care solution.

In the past decade, homelessness has tripled in
America's big cities. Some 3.5 million people now are
homeless, but programs for low-cost housing are being
cut. Prisons are bursting, from 1.2 million occupants
in 2001 to about 2 million today. The price of natural
gas, the clean fuel pushed by industry to replace dirty
coal, was $1.58 per million BTUs in 1990. By 2000, it
was $4.08 per million BTUs. And last Friday it stood at
$5.99.

http://www.villagevoice.com/print/is...323/mondo1.php