Iraq, a local issue

From the Boston Globe;

A new congressional analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week -- nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three years ago and 20 percent more than last year -- as the Pentagon spends more on establishing regional bases to support the extended deployment and scrambles to fix or replace equipment damaged in combat.

That is $2 billion a week that is not going into education, whether that is building new schools, reducing class sizes or increasing teacher salaries. That is money that is not going into our local police and fire departments. Remember going through that closing fire houses stage in order to save a budget? That is money not spent on infrastructure, job creation and small business incentives, health insurance, environmental protections. If we weren't spending $2 billion a week there, we could make improvements to the Verranzano bridge AND eliminate tolls for residents.

This money has to come from somewhere and ultimately it is your taxes this year and for years to come.