Getting Active

I've finally gotten active with Operation Democracy, and we are doing a press conference on Thursday where we will be releasing a report on the cost of the war to East Tennesseans.

Shock and Awe for Tennessee Taxpayers: Knoxville Project Democracy Members Release Cost of War Report

MEDIA RELEASE: Date: 11:30 A.M. Thursday August 16, 2007, location: Whittle Springs Middle School, 2700 White Oak Lane, Knoxville, TN 37917. Contact: Todd Duren 865-660-1980, tdurenATbellsouthDOTnet

Local members of Operation Democracy, an activist arm of MoveOn.org, will release a report on Thursday that details the costs of the war in Iraq to East Tennesseans. They will gather in front of Whittle Springs Middle School to talk about the potential benefits to education, healthcare, energy, and the Federal budget from ending the war.

Each and every day, it is becoming more evident that the Bush Administration is wasting billions of taxpayers' dollars on an endless, religious civil war that cannot be won. On average, $275 million is spent every day on the war in Iraq—that is an average of $4,100 for every household in the United States over the course of the war. And those costs are continuing to rise with no end in sight.

Last month, Congress voted for an additional $100 billion in spending. That makes the total funding appropriated for the war in Iraq so far $456 billion. The cost to Tennessee taxpayers alone is $7.03 billion. And Tennessee taxpayers in the 2nd congressional district are paying $778 million for the Iraq war.


Setting New Priorities

If we had that money back we could do a tremendous amount to benefit East Tennessee.That same amount of money—$778 million— could pay for 3800 new elementary school teachers, 54,000 children with health care, provide 144,000 homes with renewable electricity*, restore TDOT's $12 million bridge replacement funding cuts, and still have enough left over to pay off $182 million on the the $8.9 trillion national debt—a debt that has been entirely created by the Bush administration.

The money being spent in Iraq could be used to improve the lives of Americans instead of putting them at risk. Congress must act quickly to rein in this reckless president and bring an end to this war.

Operation Democracy: Because Democracy is not a Spectator Sport

*tradeoffs are calculated by the National Priorities Project.