I wish to thank and complement Greg Phillips (letters, Oct. 23) for his concise and clear analysis of what the infrastructure bills could do for everyday Americans in comparison with what is being spent on military activities that now seldom really help our own country.
While the new “whittled down” bill costs close to $1.7 trillion, the U.S. spent $2.26 trillion in Afghanistan. What do we now have to show for that sacrifice of our people and money? Just think what that money could do for American children, families and veterans.
The bill won’t give us all the benefits wished for by the more progressive members of Congress, but its focus will be on our children (child care and pre-kindergarten), new jobs, education, desperately needed new directions on climate, fire and flood mitigation, and environmental cleanup. But the important point is that it focuses on America and the real needs of the American people.
Of course, we need a strong military for defense, but not a bloated one that enriches many huge, non-taxpaying corporations. The U.S. spends 12 times more than Russia on the military, 80 times more than North Korea, and more than all of the next 10 nations combined. That’s too much.
We need to seriously reconsider priorities of where we spend our money, and the Build Back Better bills are an important start.
Connie Durand
Durango
