Everywhere I walk in the 15th Congressional District in New York, I can see places where the people need, and deserve, an investment of money. Roads with gaping holes, schools where teachers will be laid off, homeless people who need housing, and people in virtually every neighborhood who need good paying jobs. That is why I have joined a new coalition to cut off all funding for offensive action in Afghanistan.
We have wasted close to three trillion dollars on two immoral wars. Let me repeat that number: three trillion dollars. I have been a consistent opponent of both wars and have worked, with thousands of activists around the country, to prevent those wars from starting and to end our tragic involvement in those wars.
Today, 46 candidates for Congress and the Senate have joined together in a new coalition: the Coalition Against War Spending. The statement that we all signed on to is very simple:
"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost Americans over $1 trillion in direct costs, and over $3 trillion altogether. At a time when our national debt exceeds $13 trillion, we can no longer afford these wars. It's time for Congress to reject any funding except to bring all our troops safely home."
Three trillion dollars. Think about all the state budgets that could be helped with that money. The teachers, firemen, police officers whose jobs could be preserved. The millions of people we could put back to work during the greatest economic crisis we have faced in generations. Not to mention the lives that could be spared--American, Iraqi and Afghani--and the different view of our country that many people, particularly in the Muslim world, would have of us.
Here is a short video to explain my position.