US mayors gather in Baltimore; topics include redirecting military spending to home front
Article by: ALEX DOMINGUEZ , AP - Updated: June 17, 2011 - 2:46 PM
BALTIMORE - Money spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq should be spent at home under a resolution proposed Friday by U.S. mayors who called on Congress to hasten the end of the wars.
The resolution proposed at the opening of the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting wants Congress to redirect the military spending to domestic priorities. The resolution says $126 billion is being spent each year on the wars that should be spent at home to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, develop sustainable energy and provide for other needs.
The conference, which ends Monday, represents mayors of the more than 1,200 cities nationwide with a population of more than 30,000.
When asked to respond to those who argue military efforts overseas have made American cities safer from foreign terrorists, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pointed to the cost of the wars.
"How did we get to a deficit and a debt larger than at any time not only in U.S. history but in human history? We got involved in two wars that, no matter what you think about those wars, we haven't paid for," Villaraigosa said.
"That we would build bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar and not Baltimore and Kansas City, absolutely boggles the mind."
Many of the mayors speaking at a news conference opening the four-day event also criticized federal cuts that they say have increased the burden on local governments, cuts Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called the "Great Retreat by the federal government."
Burnsville, Minn., Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said safety at home should be the top priority.
"And along with that it is about our economy and it is about getting people back to work, and it is about reinvesting in those efforts that will help us retain jobs and create jobs in our country," Kautz said.
My guess, our Ramsey mayor missed the event.
The above Strib excerpt is roughly the first half of the item. For the remainder, again, this link.
________________________
Regarding that last paragraph quoting the Burnsville mayor, see the sidebar.
"What's the count?" Click the image. Making bad decisions, continuing bad decisions and extending bad decisions, is our national treasure? Too many generals, too much brass, and not enough brains?
Remember that, "I'd rather fight them on the Mekong Delta, than the San Francisco Bay." How many Viet Cong after we bailed out on that one showed up invading the Bay Area? Bad logic. Bad propaganda.
___________UPDATE____________
More about , "It's the jobs, stupid," this link. The GOP wants to bring a marriage amendment. That will produce how many new well-paying jobs, exactly? Well, divisiveness has its own agenda, screw jobs; is not what they expressly say; but how else do you read those tea leaves, Batman?