If EVERYONE had to Sacrifice for this war

We will soon hear from our President (yes, I know, you didn't vote for him but unfortunately we're stuck with him for another 2 years, yuck!) about his plans for "victory" in Iraq.  From all the news accounts leading up to this long delayed pronouncement, he plans to throw more American lives into the fire and call for 'sacrifice' from ?? us, the military, someone as yet unknown.

Much is being made about the sacrifice our military has already made and will undoubtedly continue making, and rightly so.  The death count for U.S. military in Iraq is now over 3,000 and the injured by DOD count are over 46,000.  That means almost 50,000 families in this country have made the ultimate sacrifice for this war of convenience.  The families of the other troops in this battlefield continue daily to sacrifice through the sheer mental strain of single parenthood and emotional concern over a loved one in harm's way.  Yes, going into the military means knowing ahead of time that this will be asked of you, but that does not lessen the wounds or the difficulties.

Much has also been made of the fact that the average American has not been asked to make any changes to their lives.  So it would be natural to speculate that perhaps our Fearless Leader will be asking for sacrifice from the nation this time to go along with his "surge" plan (read, McCain escalation doctrine).  It would be natural but undoubtedly wrong, as BushCo knows that the way to tamp down unrest or unease over his upcoming announcement is to continue to insulate the average American from the real costs of this debacle.

And that is what I think is actually necessary to bring this nonsense to an end.  The costs of this war must be made real to every person out there who still feels disconnected from the Administration's adventure in Iraq.  Somehow, each and every American needs to get up in the morning and have something that personally affects him or her cost more, or not be there, or be of a lower quality, or harder to get.  There needs to be a strong personal connection to what is happening and not just another picture on the nightly news that can be turned off or tuned out.

A war tax on all basic goods to cover the costs of sending more young Americans into harm's way -- bread, milk, flour, sugar, paper to start.  What would that tax rate have to be to cover the cost of the next "emergency supplemental" budget request?  1%? 5%? on every loaf of bread, every carton of milk, every piece of toilet paper and office paper.

Then just start slapping on stickers in every grocery store across this country that read "Iraq War Tax - x%" and let them know what real sacrifice is.

[Note:  this is an idea that came to me early this morning.  I haven't thought out all the problems or methods or consequences, of which I'm sure corporate America would try to impose.  But it just makes sense to me that until everyone feels the real sacrifice of taking this nation into this endless war, we will never have the full groundswell of rejection necessary to force this government out of this quagmire.]

[Update:  initial reactions suggested changing the title and tags which I have now done -- thank you.  Also, apparently I wasn't clear -- I am NOT proposing an actual tax to be debated in Congress and passed into law -- for one, it's a waste of time, two--wouldn't happen, and three and most importantly--absolutely would be regressive which I would oppose on principle.  

What I'm trying to do is come up with a way to which every American can relate that demonstrates exactly how much this war is costing us.  Now, I don't believe that the worst part of this debacle is the current monetary costs though I do believe they are a supreme waste of money better spent elsewhere or not at all.  But in order to get beyond carrying signs, we need some way to translate this so everyone 'gets it.'  And taking that 'emergency' supplemental request plus what is in the regular budget and translating that to an "Iraq tax" is one idea I've come up with.  So keep those comments coming.]

•  Okay, have at it -- the good, the bad, the ugly

  Tossing this out there for ideas and reactions.  Thanks for reading.

  by edgery on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 07:23:09 AM PDT

  •  updated the title, tags and added a clarifying

    comment to the end of the diary.  Not a real tax, but a way of showing people at least what the monetary costs are -- if they could realize what this is costing related to items everyone purchases, my thought is they'd begin to understand what a huge hit the country is taking even if they don't feel it every day.

    by edgery on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 10:13:12 AM PDT

•  Great idea.

  Changing the tags and title to reflect this might help, if it's not presumptuous to suggest it.

  by northsylvania on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 07:34:18 AM PDT

  •  is that better? if not, happy to keep working on

    it.  thanks for the suggestion.

    by edgery on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 10:13:42 AM PDT

•  I just watched the President.

  He wants to make the tax cuts permanent and he wants the line item veto and he wants to destroy Social Security.  I don't think he's going to want to levy an Iraq Tax based on what he said today.  On the other hand, he likes excise taxes as long as they don't affect his rich friends and family too much so it is possible.

  I think we should take the $170 Billion he is asking for to support the war effort and give everyone in America solar panels.  At least we'd be investing in something productive and constructive rather than destructive and deadly.

  Happy New Year, e

  by inclusiveheart on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 07:47:10 AM PDT

•  Too regressive

  I like the idea of making the cost of the war visible, but the tax you propose is much too regressive. As it is, we've got the upper class soaking the lower class, so the last thing we need to do is add to it. Now if we could tax luxury goods, or salaries over $100,000, or stock options...

  by lesliet on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 07:51:48 AM PDT

  •  totally agree -- see new update at the end of the

    diary.  I'm not proposing an actual tax but trying to get regular Americans to "get" what this war is costing at least in terms that are easier to understand.  While I think the monetary costs may be the least of our worries, it is often the best way to translate huge numbers or future policy costs into every day life.

    by edgery on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 10:15:42 AM PDT

•  Cost of supplemental $170b on dairy products

  alone

  2005 US Production of Dairy Products (from USDA) = 5,353,622,000 units*

  Today's "Emergency" Supplemental Budget Request = $170 billion

  so in the simplest form, cost per unit = $31.75

  okay, a half-gallon container of milk now costs ~$3.59 in the Washington area.  add the Iraq war cost and it would be $35.34.  Think the average American could relate to that?

  *(a unit in this case equals either a pound or gallon, I added them together for simiplicity sake, this is not good stat or econ method but for argument sake...)

  by edgery on Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 10:40:21 AM PDT