The U.S. Is Fighting A Massive War At Home

Our money by the hundreds of billions of dollars floods into weapons, wars, fighter jets, military contractors and military bases. Wars are being fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, while at home we have a vast financial tsunami that is undermining the foundation of our nation.

Nearly 15 million people are unemployed. Millions more are underemployed or not counted because they have been out of work too long. They and their families suffer, as do all the people who own the businesses they can no longer afford to shop in. Tens of millions of families are losing their life savings trying to survive.

Fannie and Freddie are holding 4.4 million foreclosed homes, kept off the market in the hope the economy will recover and provide a stronger market for them. Yet every day more homes are being foreclosed, adding to the number of people who have no home to go home to.

Our public schools, once the world's finest, are slipping into mediocrity and are left begging for additional funding just to buy supplies. Class sizes are growing so that it's now common to have 30 or more students per teacher.

Loving pets are being turned over to shelters because the people who loved them can no longer afford to feed and care for them. And those dogs and cats are left to pine for their homes and their human loved ones not understanding why they've been abandoned. And for lack of space many of them will be executed.

States and communities are struggling to balance their budgets because with so many foreclosed homes and troubled homeowners, property tax revenues have been slashed. So has income tax revenue because of all the people out of work and sales tax revenues are down because many people have cut their spending. As a result, severe cuts are being made including teachers, police and firefighters.

If this troubles you, as it does me, please raise your voice for compassion and fiscal sanity. You can make a difference by letting the news media know what you think for politicians listen to them. And you can attend vigils and other public forums, including those held by politicians that are not $1,000 a plate to get them re-elected. Our once great nation has gone badly askew and only we can resurrect it.

Dick