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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> The occupation of Iraq will cost $3 trillion, America's most expensive  
> conflict since WWII.
> Can YOU spend that money better?

I rarely get anywhere trying to penetrate the illusion that money is real, 
but perhaps one more try:   There is no $3 trillion to spend on anything 
better.

Let's suppose that  decided that Americans are suffering under higher food 
prices and so you will spend that $3 trillion to help buy more  food for the 
"poor".  The food you are eating right now was for the most part grown months 
ago, and any food that is to appear on the market for sale in the next few 
months 
has aready been planted (or born).  It doesn't just materialize out of thin 
air because you have some dollar bills in your fist.

So if you decide to spend that $3 trillion on food, what happens??  The price 
of food goes up.  Way up.   Same with education, same with medicine, same 
with clothing, or anything else you might want to spend that money on.  The 
fact 
that the money is declared to exist doesn't mean that one more shirt, pair of 
shoes, ounce of antibiotic, or educated teacher suddenly materializes out of 
the dust.  The only thing that happens is that the price of those things for 
everyone goes up.

In this state they instituted the lottery a couple of years ago and the 
argument for it was that most of the money was going for higher education in 
the 
state, and I swear the promo actually went something like this.  "College 
students in Tennessee pay $10K a year in fees and tuition but witht he 
lottery every 
student will receive $5K  toward the $15K tuition."

The $3 T going for the war effort is not $3 T of goods and services that 
could be applied to anything else.   </HTML>