You Have Just Been Slapped in the Face by Your Government; Well Maybe Not ''Your'' Government

Too bad Oregonians don’t know their congressional delegation is “throwing” good money away while punishing our own citizens.

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - The federal government has been cutting domestic programs for all US citizens such as Head Start, Food Stamps, aid to education, scientific research, the national parks program, claiming we cannot afford it, but just agreed to transfer another 429 million to Israel to further develop the Iron Dome missile system.

The money is to be transferred immediately, represents the tip of the iceberg. This 429 million is over and above the 3.1 billion that we routinely give Israel each year.

Over the past couple of years we have given over one billion dollars to Israel for this system by routinely and very quietly throwing sums like the 429 million at Israel. Other missile defense systems such as the Arrow and Patriot systems are also funded by the US taxpayers without their knowledge or consent.

Congress also passed the Foreign Military Sales Act under which US taxpayers buy weapons with US taxpayer money, then turn around and give the weapons to Israel and other countries. US taxpayers are unaware of this program and no one knows how much money is taken from taxpayers to be give away to foreign nations.

Adding insult to injury, the Iron Dome system may not even work. While Israel claims that so far it has shot down 84% of its targets, MIT professor Theodore Postol says that is almost certainly a myth and a quick “Goggle search” shows there is great debate of just how effective it is. The system was so ineffective that when Israel was paying for it, they decided to scrap it because of its cost ineffectiveness, but when the US generously came riding in on a white horse with a large bag of money and agreed to pay for the system, it was brought back to life by Israel. Why not? We were paying.

Last December the Obama administration requested $96 million for Israel’s Arrow and David’s Sling missile systems, but Congress fell over themselves and tripled the request to a gift of $284 million. This happens all the time.

What if anything has the Oregon congressional delegation had to say about sending money abroad for weapons that may not work, while cutting programs for citizens of Oregon? Their silence is deafening, for arguing the needs of Oregon are more important than giving money to a foreign country would take courage, and so the congressional delegation buries their collective heads deep in the sand so as to ignore the elephant in the room. No wonder US citizens have so much resentment for their government while Congress has a paltry approval rating of 10%.

Too bad Oregonians don’t know their congressional delegation is “throwing” good money away while punishing our own citizens.

Joseph Clifford

Salem-News.com Writer Joe Clifford lives in historic Jamestown, Rhode Island, and has contributed a number of articles relating to foreign policy to newspapers in the Rhode Island area for years.

He graduated from Providence College where he earned an undergraduate and graduate degree. After a lengthy career as a high school teacher he turned to the study of US foreign policy, and then to writing, as a means of expressing an alternative perspective. His reading and research on foreign policy is broad and extensive, especially as the policy relates to the Middle East. His interest in foreign policy was inspired by the American misadventure in Vietnam. You can write to Joe at this address: jc21131@gmail.com