By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Residents and members of MoveOn.org from Lynbrook, Garden City, Melville, Hewlett and as far away as Bayside, Queens, gathered Aug. 16 for a press conference in front of Lynbrook High School, where they urged Congress to bring American troops home from Iraq. The event was part of a larger campaign by MoveOn.org to "stand up against the Bush administration," with gatherings held in various cities that day.
MoveOn.org member Daryl Altman of Lynbrook spoke of how much the war is costing residents. "Here in Lynbrook, East Rockaway and the rest of the 4th District, taxpayers are paying $2.08 billion to continue the war in Iraq," Altman said. "That's about $3,200 for every man, woman and child in our district."
Altman's objective was to underscore the expense of what she called an "unwinnable civil war," and how money spent on it could have been used to improve local schools, public safety and health care coverage.
According to data provided by MoveOn.org's statistical affiliate, the National Priorities Project, an average of $275 million is spent every day on the war in Iraq, or $4,100 for every household in the U.S. Last month, the study states, Congress voted for an additional $100 million in spending, which brings the total funding appropriated for the war thus far to $456 billion. The cost to New York state taxpayers alone, according to the study, has been $40.91 billion.
Altman was at her most animated when arguing how taxpayer dollars might have been put to better use. "As a doctor, it breaks my heart that 378,000 of our neighbors could have health insurance, but don't, because our president insists on dumping billions into a religious civil war that just can't be won," Altman said.
The National Priorities Project report claims that the money spent on the war by 4th District taxpayers could have paid for 25,000 new elementary schools teachers in Nassau County, 342,000 college scholarships, health care coverage for 378,000 people or solar panels for 135,000 homes.
Altman also cited the Aug. 1 edition of the Boston Globe, which reported that, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the war in Iraq could ultimately cost more than $1 trillion, twice as much as what has already been spent.
MoveOn.org supporters voiced their concern and anger about the war and the soldiers stationed in Iraq. Some, like Ron Gumpert of Oceanside, said they believe the only way to get the troops back home and end the war is to boycott big businesses like the oil and gas industries. "The only thing we have left is our consumer power," Gumpert said.
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