War and Foreign Aid over Education and Social Welfare

If you were elected a high post in the government, what sectors would be your top priority? Would you provide more funding and more projects to the education sector? Or would you instead invest more in homeland security in order to promote peace and prosperity? Every voter puts a great deal of importance to the various agendas and priorities that a politician mentions during his/her campaign. Sadly, not all politicians have the right mind to put a reasonable weighing on various agendas.

In what could be another misguided and poorly reviewed decision, the senate has voted to reject the house bill passed by house Democrats. The bill was supposed to give $10 billion in grants to school districts in order to avoid massive layoff of teachers and other staff, $5 billion of grants to college students with low income, $1 billion for a summer job program that is supposed to benefit students who struggle to pay for their educational fees and $700 million to bolster security along the US-Mexico border.

Instead, the senate submitted a senate version of the bill that focuses more on the war in Afghanistan. Though the never-ending war in Afghanistan is thought to be unwinnable situation, it is surprising to note that the Obama administration is still persistent in pursuing the unimaginable war. In a time where the country is suffering from the devastating effects of a financial and economic meltdown, the government is spending more on a useless and expensive war. The cost of the war is expected to reach $1 trillion. That is more than the economic stimulus bill that Pres. Obama presented to help companies recover from recession.

While companies are declaring bankruptcy, citizens are without jobs, the middle class are losing their benefits and their homes; the government has been busy building bombs, producing war machines and hunting terrorists. It is a shame to note that the government who is supposed to promote the welfare and well-being of every American citizen, has instead give more priority to external affairs which are not really in need of much attention. Choosing military financing over education is such a shameful and unreasonable decision.

America, for many years, is seen as a global superpower. With high-tech and state of the art military technologies, no country can stand in its way. But what can military equipment do if the people, the taxpayers and the voters of the nation are suffering and starving. Soon, the only education that kids will get is how to fire a gun and how to kill someone. Would that be a suitable and ideal future? To the voting sector, it is time to start pressuring your politicians about their priorities as this will greatly influence your vote come the time of elections.