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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Monday, October 13, 2003
Bush breaking the bank
Congress should deny President Bush's request for $87 billion to rebuild Iraq
P resident George W. Bush wore no flight
suit Sept. 7 as he made a request to
Congress for a supplementary $87 bil
lion for reconstruction efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan. This is in direct contrast to his
May 1 speech on the USS. Abraham Lincoln
in which he arrogantly declared “major com
bat operations in Iraq have ended.”
Still, there was very little contrition on the
part of the president as he made his funding
request. There was no indication the invasion
oflraq was unjustified and unnecessary from a national securi
ty perspective. There was no recognition that a lack of adequate
postwar planning by his administration led to the need for the
extra $87 billion.
That is one of the reasons why Congress should deny his
request and only allow the spending that would immediately
support the nation's troops as they perform their heroic duty in
q, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The majority of the nation agrees with this viewpoint.
Sixty-one percent of Americans do not think the money
should be spent, according to a CBS-New York
Times Poll released Oct. 2. Bush should not
receive any money until he delivers an adequate
“postwar” Iraq plan. Even a GOP congressman
anonymously told Time magazine, “It would be
helpful if they would say, ‘We were caught flat-
footed, but now we're handling it.'
t they won’t.”
The most controversial portion of
requested money is the $20.3 bil-
n specifically tagged for Iraq's recon
struction. One billion dollars of that
.3 billion would go toward training
i police and firefighters. This is espe
dally ironic considering the Bush admin
istration opposed an extra $200 million tar
geted for America’s policemen and firefight
ers, according to Time.
Another $2.1 billion would be used to
import petroleum into Iraq and upgrade its oil infrastruc
ture. This makes no sense. Iraq is the world's second
largest oil-producing country and this administration wants to
import petroleum into Iraq at the American taxpayer’s expense.
Even ardent Bush supporter California Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher asked, “Why should we give all this money to a
country so rich in materials?” Some Capitol Hill conservatives
wish to restructure the $20 billion marked for Iraq’s reconstruc
tion as loans, according to Time. Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle agrees. Under his plan, Iraq’s oil revenue would be
used to help repay the loan.
There are other provisions that do not cost as much but are
just as ridiculous. Bush wants an additional $600 million to
continue the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
This is in addition to the $300 million already spent on the
WMD search.
The president should admit that the intelligence
obtained about Iraq’s weapons programs was shoddy.
His administration should concede there are no weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq and stop wasting taxpayer money on
nonsensical WMD searches. An additional $1 million would be
used to build a museum to document atrocities committed by
Saddam Hussein. It is important to remember the carnage and
suffering this dictator caused, but this museum is not necessary
and should not be built at this point in time.
Besides, the administration should be focusing more on captur
ing or killing Saddam so that he will commit no more atrocities.
Some may ask whether it is good policy to deny the money
needed for Iraq’s reconstruction, but it’s not a matter oil' not get
ting the money at all. It’s a matter of responsibility on the part of
the Bush administration. They can get the funds they need
from elsewhere without forcing the nation into more
deficit spending.
For example, other nations would be willing to
help with troops and money needed in Iraq, but
they would only do so by a U.N. mandate. To
get a mandate. Bush must apologize to the
United Nations for so recklessly going to war
without their approval and humbly ask
ing for assistance. Unfortunately, this
1 was not the case as Bush recently
addressed the U.N. assembly with his
typical arrogant swagger.
Bush could also easily raise the money he
needs by rescinding his ill-advised tax cuts for the
wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. In fact, $89 bil
ion could be raised by forgoing the tax cuts for
just one year, 2010, according to Democratic
Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. He told Fox News
that wealthy Americans he’s spoken to support
the idea, but no one realistically expects the presi
dent to rescind any of his tax cuts, although doing
so would help pay for the Iraqi war and improve
his declining poll numbers.
Bush is accountable to the American people.
Until his administration learns this, America should
feel no guilt in denying his $87 billion request.
Seth Freeman • THE BATTALION
Collins Ezeanyim is a senior
computer engineering major.
U.S. must rethink how health insurance system works
A ccording to figures
recently released by
the Census Bureau,
the number of Americans
without health insurance
increased last year by 2.4
million, the largest margin of
increase in a decade. This
; increase raised the total num
ber of people without health
insurance to 43.6 million.
The proportion of people without health insur
ance was especially high in Texas, where near
ly 25 percent of residents are uninsured.
Compare that disturbing ratio with Minnesota’s
numbers: there, only 8 percent of the popula
tion is without health coverage.
One good explanation for the large increase is
the mindset of most Americans, politicians and
workers who believe that an employer must pro
vide health insurance. With this in mind it should
come as no surprise that 2.4 million more people
are without health insurance, considering that 2.7
million jobs have been lost in past few years. This
fact underscores the root of problem: Americans
are forced to rely upon old-fashioned employer-
centered health insurance plans when what is
needed is a more flexible system to meet the
needs of the modem worker.
The fact is that fewer and fewer Americans
are sticking to the career paths of their parents
and grandparents. No longer does a person
graduate from college, go to work for one big
company, which provides health insurance for
employees and their families, and then retires
at 65 with a company pension. In the 21st cen
tury, more people are working for smaller
companies that offer fewer benefits, workers
switch jobs more often and one in every 12
Americans starts his own business. Today, the
best way to increase the number of insured
Americans is by breaking the link between a
job and health insurance.
Those who stubbornly support the outdated
employer-provides-health-insurance concept
may argue that at least with their system, one
could expect the number of uninsured
Americans to decrease in a strong job market. If
employers are no longer to provide health insur
ance, then no such guarantee will exist.
This may have been true in the past, but the
data from the past decade contradicts that logic.
The number of uninsured Americans increased
each year from 1987 to 1998, even when the job
market was booming. Small businesses account
ed for many of the new jobs then, as they will
in the future, and such businesses are far less
likely to provide health coverage.
The United States can begin breaking the
job-insurance link by no longer favoring
employers who provide health coverage.
Currently, companies are given more than
$140 billion per year in federal tax breaks to
supply their workers with health insurance.
The employees under such a plan are coddled
by the government as well, since they do not
pay taxes on health insurance benefits provid
ed by their bosses.
The money given to companies as subsidies
should instead be given directly to individuals
as a health insurance tax Credit. For example, if
health insurance for a family costs $8,000 per
year, then the tax credit awarded to them could
be 50 percent of this bill. Now, the family pays
$4,000 less in taxes, and uses this bonus to pay
for its health coverage.
Mark Pauly, an economist at the University
of Pennsylvania, and Bradley Herring, a health
policy scholar at Yale University, have calculat
ed that this “modest tax credit, paying 50 per
cent of the premium, would reduce the number
of uninsured workers and family members with
low incomes by as much as 52 percent.” In
other words, 21 million more Americans will
become insured. They will also have the luxury
of choosing the type of coverage they desire and
the freedom to change jobs without fear of los
ing their health insurance.
Currently, the Bush administration is propos
ing a $3,000 credit for families with two or
more children and incomes less than $25,000.
The bonuses are expected to cover as much as
90 percent of the health insurance costs.
Individuals with incomes less than $15,000 also
get a tax credit, but only for $1,000. However,
families making more than $60,000 and individ
uals earning more than $30,000 are not eligible
for the tax breaks. Though these tax credits are
certainly progress, they need to be extended to
include all Americans.
The time for this expansion is now. Health
policy experts, such as Hanns Kuttner of the
University of Michigan, predict that the number
of uninsured will rise again this year because
the job market remains weak and many states,
Texas included, have cut back their Medicaid
programs. Perhaps by then, if not now,
Americans will realize that a system which has
worked poorly in the past will only work worse
in the future.
Midhat Farooqi is a senior
genetics major.
Event Date
Oct. 14
Oct. 14
14 Oct. 18
20 Oct. 21
21 Oct. 26
7 Nov. 26-30
1 Jan. 11-17
12 March 14-21
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YCT demonstrations
not attacking anyone
In response to Sarah Szuminski’s
■ Oct. 9 article:
I would like to clarify a few points
recently made in The Battalion regard-
; ing the Traditional Family Values Week
; activities of the Young Conservatives
l of Texas A&M. First, YCT never direct-
! lyattacked Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender Aggies (GLBTA) or any
other student group. What we did was
; attack a message and a lifestyle that
; we find morally objectionable that is
; being subsidized with our student fee
money. The purpose of our protest was
also to show the student body that
they don’t have to feel pressured into
accepting a lifestyle they object to.
i Additionally, The Battalion did not
‘ print a single example of a malfeasant
expenditure of student fees of the
many we provided to them, which
; included a speech made by author
: Christian de la Fluerta on the subject
of “Coming Out Spiritually” that not
only promoted the homosexual
lifestyle but was also a religious justifi
cation of this lifestyle, which is a slap in
the face of Christians. Student fees
also went to pay for the printing and
distribution of flyers promoting GLBT
issues, including one that stated that
there are more than two sexes and
that gender is a “mix and match mode
of self expression.”
The students should not be forced to
fund this offensive material.
Sarah Davis
Executive Director of YCT
A&M GLBT students
deserve respect
The YCT paraded around campus
Wednesday with signs that discour
age unity and solidarity on our cam
pus. One of these signs said “Texas
A&M: Where girls like guys, and
guys like girls.” I would like to take
this opportunity to correct my fellow
Aggies. Non-heterosexual students
MAIL CALL
are present at Texas A&M University.
We pay tuition and fees, just like
everyone else. Many of you are
friends with us, or at least with the
individuals that make up our queer
community, and yet you still don’t
know who we are or understand us.
So who are we? We are humans.
What do we want? To be able to
love whoever we want without fear
of being discriminated against, or
made fun of or assaulted. But this is
not acceptable to some people, as
evidenced by the YCT’s display.
Contrary to some people’s beliefs,
we don’t want to destroy anyone’s
individual morality, we don’t want to
hurt anyone and we don’t want to
change anyone. Nor do we want
special rights or privileges, although
it would be nice to have our unions
and life partners officially recog
nized by society.
Apart from the large gay and lesbian
community, there are also many bisex
uals and transsexuals on campus.
Besides that, there is also a very large
community of people who support us,
who were able to figure out that we
mean no harm to anyone, and that we
are normal people. It is time for the rest
of our campus to catch up.
David Pasnik
Class of 2003
Sweatshops boycotts
not productive
In response to Oct. 10 mail call:
These so-called sweatshops are
jobs. Jobs that allow people to pro
vide for themselves and their fami
lies. In 1998, when France had the
spotlight of the world during the
World Cup, France decided to boy
cott certain soccer balls because of
how they were made. Some were
made in these “sweatshops” and the
boycott only drove these hard work
ing individuals out their jobs. How
did they face unemployment? With
whatever they could do to survive,
readily available: crime and prostitu
tion. Did this boycott save the peo
ple it was designed to? No, it made
their situations worse.
Let’s be honest with ourselves,
would we like the people of devel
oping nations to be able to work in
safe conditions like the ones we
have here at home? Yes. Would we
like them to earn some of the high
est wages on the planet like we do
here? Yes. Is it going to happen any
time soon? Probably not. Let’s put
things in perspective. These jobs
pay more than most of their alterna
tives and are much safer than read
ily available alternatives.
Michael W. Hart
Class of 2004
The Battalion encourages letters to the edi
tor. Letters must be 200 words or less and
include the author’s name, class and phone
number. The opinion editor reserves the right
to edit letters for length, style and accuracy.
Letters may be submitted in person at 014 Reed
McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also
may be mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS
1111, Texas A&M University, College Station,
TX 77843-1.111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email:
mailcall@thebattalion.net