In response to Logan Stolberg’s article, the “Democrat bill absurd waste of funds,” I can not disagree more with his opinion. Two major points hit on are pillars of conservative foolishness and American selfishness.
In Stolberg’s article, he discusses how the spending bill passed by House of Representatives democrats is far too expensive, adding trillions to the national debt. However, Stolberg’s claim that funding free pre-kindergarten and community college is “going to backfire quick” is insane.
Education at an early age is crucial to develop critical thinking skills, basic social skills and basic necessities like reading and writing. Pre-K, usually offered at the age of three or four, provides a solid foundation for future education. Free pre-K would also help low-income families who often do not have access to this service due to financial struggles or lack of availability. By sending young children to pre-K, it also allows parents to work and not spend on expensive daycares. Not supporting the education of your own country’s children is not patriotic, it is selfish and idiotic. Instead of wasting billions on our defense budget, with some weapons like the tomahawk missile costing over one million dollars per rocket with the United States using dozens per attack, that money should be used to better our own citizens rather than blow up other countries.
If you do not believe that the betterment of our youth is the betterment of us all, you are a fool and have fallen for one of the greatest lies in modern capitalist America. Community college should not operate as a business. State colleges, like our very own SUNY Oswego, should not operate as a business. Community colleges allow for students to explore career options and get a better education than high school. For many, high schools are underfunded and funding community colleges can help get people out of the cycle of poverty.
Stolberg also mentions that the proposal for funding schools “includes people who came into this country illegally which is another problem.” This is xenophobia and racism at its finest. A common argument against illegal immigrants, which are more than often people overstaying work visas and not central and South Americans coming through the Mexican border, is that they are here to traffic drugs and women and steal American jobs. Entire books have been written about the true struggles of immigrants who are searching for a better life. These people want to live in a good country. Everyone wants to.
Wanting to get an education is something that should be funded by the people, for the people. The ruling class wants college more exclusive so they can keep the working class down. If someone comes to this country and wants an education, they want to improve their life and the lives of their loved ones. Educate yourself before making bogus claims.
Stolberg’s article also references the raising of taxes on incomes over $400,000 a year. This is not how tax brackets work. Income over $400,000 will be taxed at a 39.6% tax rate, as opposed to the 37% tax rate currently in place. That means every dollar you make over $400,000 would be taxed at 39.6%, not all $400,000. If you go to SUNY Oswego, you should not be worrying about a 2.6% increase. This is a state college, not Yale.
As referenced earlier in this article, the United States military budget must be slashed to help our own people. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that tracks United States fiscal issues, from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020, the United States military budget was $778 billion. The military budgets of China, India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Australia were $761 billion combined. There is absolutely no reason for our military expenditures to be this high while we have people living in the United States starving, lacking universal healthcare, going to underfunded schools and having to beg under unemployment. Even after being used for the United States war machine, veterans come back often to become homeless or without proper mental and physical care. The United States does not truly care about its people as evidenced by the continued overfunding of the military, and arguments about a tiny increase in taxes are ridiculous when our money is being spent on turning stretches of desert to glass.
There are ways to get the money needed to fund free pre-K and community college. Small increases in taxation on the wealthier, along with a massive increase in taxes to the super-rich like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, will help Americans that need it the most.
If anyone would like to disagree, please email all responses to my email address, jcustodio@oswegonian.com.
