GUEST OPINION: An open letter to George W. Bush

 By Wid Lyman

Mr. President, I’ve been thinking about that estimated $80 billion you’ve requested to continue your effort at democracy in Iraq.

I have a better idea ... Let’s give the Iraqis back their country and bring our troops home. Think of what we could do with that money — 80 BILLION DOLLARS — if you still insist on spending it.

A few suggestions, all of which I, as a compassionate constitutionalist, can be comfortable with:

1) With just $1 billion per year for the next 10 years, you could hire 20,000 border guards at $50,000 per year so that we Americans can be safe from the invaders from the South. Then, with the money we save in welfare, education, incarceration, and other costs associated with illegal immigration, we could sustain those border guards beyond the 10 years.

2) Because our interstate system is really part of our defense system, you could use $10 billion for highway and bridge repair. This would save lives and vehicle costs associated with unsafe and deteriorating roadway conditions. No need to raise the gas tax, much of which is spent on other (unconstitutional) projects.

And that’s only $20 billion so far!

3) Because I believe homeland security begins with the individual and the family, why not provide a little protection for the head of each household in America, say a $200 voucher for the purchase of a semi-automatic handgun and ammunition (free of registration, of course), to be used only in defense of life and property. Assuming 100 million households, half of which are blue state people who won’t use the voucher, that’s another $10 billion.

4) The next $15 billion can be used to reward our men and women in uniform for their service and sacrifice. I suggest an annual pay increase of $10,000 for all active duty personnel, which currently number about 1.5 million. Perhaps more able-bodied men would then enlist, so we wouldn’t need to send our daughters into harm’s way. In future years we could maintain this salary level by committing our troops to fewer acts of intervention in the world and with the United Nations, using the savings afforded by such inaction.

5) And how ‘bout another $5 billion to be divided between the surviving families and those wounded in action in your current effort at democracy-building in Iraq: almost 1500 killed and another 20,000 wounded. I suggest $2 million for each family who has lost someone, and $100,000 for each of the wounded.

And we’re still at only $50 billion!

6) Next, I propose a buy-out; two, in fact. Each year we taxpayers subsidize Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service to the tune of billions of dollars. Both of these quasi-public ventures need to be weaned. I say give Amtrak $5 billion and the USPS $5 billion and tell them their days at the trough are over ... sink or swim; no more bailouts.

7) It’s time for a new federal incarceration program, complete with state-of-the-art lock-up facilities. At $1 billion each, we can build 10 regional federal mega-prisons. These high-tech, no frills prisons could house most, if not all of our federal inmate population (assuming deportation of all illegal aliens, which make up about one-third of the 180,000 inmates). Complete with small cells, no television, no gym, and highly-trained and equipped guards, these Alcatraz-on-steroids prisons would promote homeland security and discourage miscreant behavior. Operational expenses would shift from the current facilities to these, and the old ones would be sold. Perhaps Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio could act as prison czar!?

8) Last, and perhaps you’ll like this idea, Mr. President, being a so-called Southerner, I think it’s time the FedGov extend to the old South an olive branch. One-time grants of $1 billion each should be offered to each of the Southern states which was decimated, physically and economically, by the North. Call it reparations, if you wish. It’s been a long time coming and won’t help much, but it’s the gesture that counts. You say there are 11 such states? Fine, build nine prisons instead of ten.

Now tell me that isn’t a better use of the $80 billion dollars.



Wid Lyman can be reached at ironmanwid@aol.com.