What should our priorities be?

Seattle Post - Intelligencer ^ | 1/3/04 | Heidi Wills, Seattle City Councilwoman

[Eva]

What should our priorities be?

Editor's note: While David Horsey takes a winter break, outgoing Seattle City Councilwoman Heidi Wills poses this week's Burning Question.

The start of a new year is often a time of reflection. As Americans, we can take this opportunity to reflect on our place in the world -- the sacrifices we have been asked to make and our impact on our future.

The war and occupation in Iraq have cost us dearly -- upwards of $200 billion, and more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed or seriously injured. Ostensibly, the intent is to make the Mideast more "secure" and to fight terror in all its forms. But the reality is this war is about many objectives, among them political positioning and fueling our oil economy.

Former Vice President Al Gore estimated it would take $98 billion to completely transform our economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy resources, realizing U.S. independence from foreign oil from volatile regions. The Apollo Alliance, a labor-environmental coalition, calls for a 10-year, $300 billion federal investment in clean-energy technologies to create more than 1 million new manufacturing jobs, improve social and economic world stability and combat global warming.

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's priority for the United States is universal health care, which he says would cost about the same amount. President Bush's request to rebuild Iraq: $88.3 billion. The most recent census shows about 41 million people are without basic health care insurance; ours is the only major industrialized country that does not provide some form of universal coverage for all its citizens.

My Burning Question is:

Given the choice between spending $200 billion on the war in Iraq, investment in renewable resources, universal health care or some other cause, what would be your priority for America?

SEND YOUR ANSWERS

Send your answers to David Horsey by E-mail at burningquestions@seattlepi.com or mail them to Burning Questions, c/o P-I Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909. You may also fax your thoughts to 206-448-8184.

[Eva]

I would like to invite Freepers to share their answers to this question with the Seattle PI, while I work on my own reply, which I will share with you later.

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[goodnesswins]

Someone should send this imbecile Heidi the tape of Muhammed, who now will return to Iraq as a lawyer, who was crying with joy about its liberation on a local radio station. In fact, I'm going to email KVI and ask them to do that in response to her question.

[wimpycat]

If I lived in the Seattle area, my top priority would be voting out city council members who use their office to discuss national and foreign affairs. City council members' job is to concern themselves with what's going on in their city, and not pass resolutions against the war in Iraq.

[Eala]

Mohammed Akkar speaks. ( Earlier thread on this sound clip).

[Eala]

If I lived in the Seattle area,

Sadly, for those of us in the Seattle area, that's not good enough. One has to live in Seattle itself.

[wimpycat]

Of course, you're right. Actually, this is applicable to anyone who lives under the jurisdiction of a city or town council. WTF business do they have commenting on universal health care and national defense? I guess discussing trash collection, sign ordinances and taxes just isn't "sexy" enough.

[Eva]

Here is my response:

What should our priorities be?

This is a trick question on the order of "Heads I win, tails you lose", considering that the Democrat candidates, particularly Howard Dean, have been all over the board, taking both sides of every issue like a two headed coin. The difference is that it will be the American people who lose if the Democrats have their way. The war in Iraq was very much a part of the war on terrorism, as has been demonstrated by the evidence of the close connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda operatives. Nothing is more important to the wellbeing of America than safety.

Even Howard Dean seemed to agree with President Bush on the necessity for regime change in Iraq. According to an interview with Salon's Jake Tapper in March of last year, when Dean was asked to clarify his Iraq position, Dean said that Saddam must be disarmed, but with a multilateral force under the auspices of the United Nations. If the U.N. in the end chooses not to enforce its own resolutions, then the U.S. should give Saddam 30 to 60 days to disarm, and if he doesn't, unilateral action is a regrettable, but unavoidable, choice

[hershey]

The real dilemma about switching from fossil fuels (let's say we could harness cold fusion tomorrow or get cheap energy from dandelions), we'd be taking the Middle East's only source of income away from them. If they're jealous and mad at us now, enough to be suicidal, etc., how would they act then! Our use of their oil has provided their only reason to get up in the morning.

[hershey]

except for killing us, that is.

[sergeantdave]

This parasitic need by leftists to interfere in people's lives is psychotic. This Stalin Syndrome needs to be identified and classed by the psychiatry field as a mental disease and call it Marxist megalomania or something. This female needs to check into a secure institution where her dangerous ideas can bounce harmlessly off rubber walls and she can play with rubber ducks all day.

[Eva]

Actually, having the city councilwoman comment on national affairs is no different than asking a Hollywood celebrity for their opinions, and just as relevant.

[MissAmericanPie]

This is my reply to the gentleman.



Dear Sir,

I would have thought that 9-11 had defined for all Americans, once and for all, what our priorities should be. Unfortunately it seems that some Citizens have memories shorter than a cat. Or, at the very least, a dangerous and harmful power hungry agenda that leaves American's bare to attacks from an enemy who embraces brutality and genocide as a lifestyle.

We have taken the war to the enemy, we have hurt him economically, physically, we have chased him from palaces into caves and we have gone into those caves and pulled him out by the nose and defeated him, and are still defeating him street by street.

The defeat of Afganistan and Iraq has been a major victory against an enemy that seeks to convert or destroy us. It took less time to defeat Saddams forces and enter Bagdad than it took for Hillary Clinton to find the misplaced White Water documents. Personally I don't think there should be any doubt about what our priorities should be, and are.

[Eva]

Why don't you accept the invitation and tell her what you think?

[Eva]

Thank you.

[Eala]

OTOH, they aren't limiting answers to their constituency, so I just gave them a piece of my mind. Including a link to Mohammed Akkar's statement.

[Eva]

There was another article in the Saturday paper that made me even more angry than this stupid question, that I think from your screen name, you will be more interested in. They ran an article about two Special Forces snipers in Iraq and told where they were from and other personal information about their families. I will see if I can find that article.

[Eva]

HERE is a link to the article about the army snipers.

[Eva]

bump

[Libertarianize the GOP]

Buy out the PI and eliminate their propaganda.