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Ask yourself: What are the benefits of our Mideast wars to the average Mainer? This was a question posed recently by U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, a veteran who served four tours in those wars.
When you stop to think about it, most Mainers got very little in benefits. Yes, there are 20,000 Mainers employed in defense industries, about 1.5% of the population, but even clean energy rivals that at more than 16,000 employees. The eight-year Iraq war and the 20-year Afghanistan war cost the U.S. between $4 trillion and $6 trillion combined and resulted in more than 7,000 U.S. soldier deaths and over 900,000 civilian and military deaths to those countries.
Let’s ask what Mainers lost? If Maine’s share of those trillions of dollars had been spent on our healthcare industry, where we have over 100,000 employees, we may not be closing birthing centers and rural hospitals and every Mainer could afford good healthcare, including veterans. If it were spent on clean energy, our electric bills would likely be lower, our air would be cleaner, and our future of climate change would be brighter with less coastal damage.
Our administration in Washington is asking for an astronomical 42% increase or $445 billion in defense spending totaling $1.5 trillion. What is their plan to pay for it? As always, cut back on healthcare, SNAP, infrastructure, environmental protection, etc., etc. In other words, things that benefit the health and quality of life for Mainers.
Please say “no” to war.
Joe Blotnick
Bernard
