Eating our seed corn

Edward Humes had an excellent Op-Ed article in the Los Angeles Times (A GI Bill for the 21st century, Oct 26, 2006), which showed up in the San Antonio Express-News today. The GI Bill, adopted in 1944 by FDR (a Democrat) and a bi-partisan congressional effort, was an investment in the nation's future. It was an investment that brought with it a booming economy and a large middle class. Thanks to Republican "leadership", today's soldiers see only a pale shadow of the GI Bill. Those of us who have spent some time on a farm know this short-sightedness as "eating our seed corn". Farmers understand that part of each crop, usually the highest quality part, must be set aside to plant the next crop. If you eat your seed corn you won't have a crop next year and will suffer for it. Republicans have been eating our seed corn and the nation has been suffering for it. Republicans are spending about $9 billion dollars a month (borrowing every penny and adding to the national debt) for wars and rebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Much of the money intended for rebuilding has disappeared due to corruption and the need to pay for private security since the Bush administration neglected to send enough troops to secure borders and cities. Can you imagine what we could do with an extra $9 billion a month in this country? We could rebuild our crumbling infrastructure (roads, bridges, water systems, power grids, etc.) and provide real security at our critical ports -- and pay Americans to do the work. We could also rebuild our badly worn military and reinstitute a real GI Bill to help our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans rebuild their lives.