by Fred Tolleson

Created on: May 21, 2008

The Iraq war has changed our budgeting process here in America simply because there is not enough money available to meet the entire list of domestic needs, once the war is paid for. The sad part of this exercise is that it will continue long after the war is over and this sad rural nation of Iraq is long forgotten about!

In America our infrastructure is crumbling! The roads and bridges about any of our large cities are in sad condition. One example that comes to mind is the recent loss of the bridge in Minnesota that collapsed with cars and people being lost over the edge, crushed or tossed into the river. Another example would be our great interstate system of highways that was built during the 1950's and 60's. The road needs to be expanded, repaired. re-surfaced, and in general, overhauled. Our major rivers are no longer dredged on a regular basis. Our major airports are not being maintained and expanded sufficiently for the air traffic they are asked to bear. And so goes the ever extending list of things that make up the basic structure of America. We simply do not look at the list anymore. It is so sad!

The major reason we do not have a form of universal health care in this nation, is the war in Iraq! It is an expensive item! The war consumes billions and billions of dollar now and has indebted our future income for many years. It appears the only way around the war debt is to change administrations in hopes that a future president will not continue this insanity and extract our nation from a land that does not want or need our assistance. Over 75% of the respondents to a recent survey ran by a major television network, indicated that universal health care was in the top 3 picks they had made as a priority for themselves and this nation. We cannot have Universal Health Care and this expensive war, at the same time!

Our educational system is a cooperative system between the federal government, statewide government and the school district that covers each of our homes. Usually a tax is levied on the local homeowners to pay for the major part of educating the children from a that area. The Statewide government provides policy guidance, funding for basic education and little else. The federal government is supposed to fund specialty programs for educating the mentally retarded, gifted, and those needs not regularly found in local budgets. Because of the war, most federal funding has been reduced 40-60% over the past decade in terms of real buying power and those

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