Sticking it to America

Michigan Senator Carl Levin sent me the following e-mail, which I found very interesting.

“I want to know why the struggling American taxpayer is getting stuck with the bill for rebuilding Iraq.

“After all, the Iraqi government is expected to accrue more than $100 billion in oil revenues during 2007 and 2008. That’s more than double the estimated $47 billion the United States Treasury has paid for reconstruction efforts since 2003.

“The Iraqi government has a large surplus from oil sales. It has perhaps $30 billion in U.S. banks alone. It can and must do more to provide basic necessities, increased security, and a higher quality of life for its citizens.

“American money spent rebuilding Iraq is money we can’t commit to important priorities here at home. Our straining health care system, our crumbling infrastructure, and our struggling manufacturing base could all use serious government investment right now - not to mention reducing the huge budget deficit run up by President George Bush.

“For those reasons and more, I sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office earlier this month asking for a review of Iraqi oil revenues and reconstruction spending. The letter was cosigned by my colleague on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican Senator John Warner.

“We want to know just how much money the Iraqi government has actually contributed to reducing the violence and rebuilding the country - and how much they have sitting unused in international banks.

“The American people have paid an enormous price to attempt to secure and to start to rebuild Iraq. It’s long past time for the Iraqi government to use its oil revenues to support these efforts.”

I can’t think of a better reason for getting our troops out of Iraq ASAP.

One day in Iraq costs the American taxpayer $720 million a day. That amount of money would provide 1,274,336 American homes with renewable electricity, or 6,482 families with homes.