To the Editor:

President Bush showed his stinginess when he vetoed a bill to expand health care provision for the poorest children in the United States, and then condescendingly added that if they needed a “little more money,” he might agree to a mere $5 billion over five years. Yet he has no qualms about spending billions every month for death and destruction in Iraq.

That money could have enhanced the life of every person in the United States by financing free health care for everyone, not just children, and Social Security for years to come. The money is our money; where do we want it to be spent?

Carol Delaney
Providence, R.I., Oct. 4, 2007

Note from KBJ: What really burns the asses of progressives is that the money being spent in Iraq could be spent in ways of which they approve. By the way, I doubt that President Bush or his supporters would accept the description of his actions as “spending billions every month for death and destruction in Iraq.” During World War II, was the United States spending billions for death and destruction in Europe? Do these letter writers not realize that, by being tendentious, they undermine both their credibility and their persuasiveness? Then again, maybe their aim is not to persuade but to vent.