An Unnecessary Budget Battle

Author Kristin Henderson (pictured) wrote an Op-Ed piece that appeared in the New York Times last Friday calling for a war tax “dedicated to financing the support services needed by military families and combat veterans.” She added, “perhaps we should call it a long-term costs-of-war tax…the tax I’m proposing, like the needs it’s intended to meet, will not end when the war does.”

This links to some of the letters appearing in the paper on Saturday in response, expressing well-reasoned opposition, not to helping our past and present military members, but in the manner of how we should do it.

There are a couple of points I’d like to make on this issue also. The first is that we should take a look at how support services for our veterans have been funded recently by the happily-now-department Repug congress and ask if we should do more (here’s a hint; you already know the answer, I’m sure).

Update 2/13: Atrios does too.

The second is that I presented an idea some time ago for something called “the July 6th fund” which would provide scholarships for the sons and daughters of our troops killed in action (the July 6th date stood out for me because that’s Dubya’s birthday, but any date would suffice).

We always hear the Repugs telling us how important it is to act on one’s own behalf and not to rely on government for anything; they’ve spent 30 years or more telling us how bad government supposedly is, when in fact, “the government” is us. Well then, couldn’t those who have profited from this war give something back to such a fund? We could establish it and then expand it to include college scholarships and support for our veterans on top of what they’re supposed to be getting from the VA anyway.

If the fund was established with the right about of marketing and publicity (something Bushco is supposed to be good at), then there would be no need for a war tax of the type proposed by Ms. Henderson.

I share the opinion of the letter writers to the New York Times. I don’t feel that I should have to contribute anything extra since those who have ridden the gravy train at the expense of our service people show no sign of contributing anything close to their fair share, in addition to the fact that I never supported this war for so much as a nanosecond anyway.