Letter to the International Herald Tribune

Paying the Price
When the Axis powers surrendered to the United Nations in 1945, there was a widespread expectation of peace and prosperity.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, there was anticipation of a large "peace dividend."

But the peace dividend has not been a savings and reprioritizing of expenses for the American people. We're not beating our swords into plowshares.

Instead, the peace dividend has proven to be a windfall for a few special interests--a handful of people connected to the energy and military industries.

From the cold war, Korea and Vietnam to Latin America and the Middle East, the peace dividend has brought neither peace nor prosperity.

Instead, oureconomy is teetering on the worst recession in at least a century, with budget cuts affecting the services that working families need and depend on.

We're borrowing $343 million every day (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-murtha/hidden-costs-to-the-war-i_b_83544.html) to pay for a war that our leaders fooled and frightened us into fighting at a current cost of $338 million per day (http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?cat=15).

Gasoline prices are close to double what they were before the war began.

The American people need to enforce the peace on the wealthy, privileged and powerful interests who--in collaboration with some of our elected officials--are stealing our peace dividend.