Just Keep Taking Deep Breaths ...

Not to freak you out, but lest the seductive languor of post-summer has left you feeling all warm and fuzzy, I suggest you put the edge back on by checking out the National Priorities Project’s cost of war counter. The counter, started in 2003, keeps a running total of the tax dollars we are dumping into Iraq (based on Congressional appropriations estimates). Not only does it break down cost by state and city, the website also has handy little links that compare the current war costs with what we could have accomplished in kids’ health, public education, college scholarships, world hunger and the AIDS epidemic, to name a few. When I last looked, New Mexico’s bill for the Iraqi “liberation” was $632,209,348.00. Our fair city clocked in at $174,819,664.00, and this great nation was racking it up at $187,710,500,091.00, gaining $155,000.00 per minute (by my cell phone stopwatch). Check it out at www.costofwar.com just remember to keep breathing!