Cost of Iraq war is hitting right here at home

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050419/OPINION02/504190335/1039/OPINION

By Harry Davis (April 19, 2005)

 — Everyone knows that aircraft carriers, tanks, helicopters and other weapons of war cost, and keep costing, the federal taxpayers billions of dollars in taxes.

What is much less appreciated is that those weapons of war soak up federal aid to municipalities as well, impacting state and local taxes, keeping real wages low, and by skewing spending priorities, reduce the quality of life and extract money from every Rochester resident's pocketbook or purse.

If the federal government weren't pouring our federal income taxes into such ruthless enterprises as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, inner-city housing, schools, streets and other facilities wouldn't be in such disrepair. Income taxes would very likely be lower, and the federal government would be able to share its tax revenues much more favorably with localities and states.

Not only would local taxes be lower, but both Rochester and Monroe County would be able to finance sorely needed projects like a rationally sited downtown bus terminal, housing, parks, streets, libraries, and infrastructure including free parking so that the retail sector may grow.

If political payoffs weren't being made to Vice President Cheney's former companies, local taxes as well as state and national taxes most likely wouldn't keep spiraling — at least not as steeply as they have been since President Bush and his sidekick began paying off a few companies that contribute to presidential campaigns.

These observations are clearly not mine alone. Before President Bush asked Congress to authorize the war in Iraq, scores of localities across the country adopted resolutions cautioning him and predicting the deleterious impact on localities of a long and expensive war.

Months before the Iraq war started, for example, the Rochester City Council sent President Bush a letter unanimously warning about the huge and continuing cost of war. A resolution sponsored by Democratic County Legislators Bill Benet and Stephanie Aldersley did the same in the Monroe County Legislature.

In making the rounds during my campaign for the Democratic nomination for City Council at large, I have been mentioning this issue. Although not often offered widely, the matter clearly irritates many Rochester voters who oppose the human and material costs of the enterprise on both Americans and Iraqis.

That's why municipalities, following their warnings to the president, shouldn't let down now; their elected officials and taxpayers must continue to closely track and oppose this unneeded and immoral war as it moves into another year. In addition to the human toll it continues to exact hundreds of thousands of miles away, it is doing untold financial and moral danger here right here at home.

Davis, an Independent Candidate of the Red, White & Blue Party, is running for an at-large seat on the Rochester City Council.