So, if anyone is wondering how many fractions of a second of war they paid for last year, Progressive Future’s Invest in US Calculator will tell you—and reveal what those hard-earned dollars could have paid for instead, if our leaders had been investing in us.

Progressive Future's Program Director, Adam Lioz reports:

The average American sent $235 to Iraq in 2007, funding only 0.04 seconds of the war.  That same tax tab could have paid for 25 days of health coverage for an uninsured American, 12 days of Head Start for a student, 5 days of higher education for an Iraq war veteran, or powered a home with renewable energy for 89 days.

I’d rather my next tax bill pay for a month of health care for a poor child than another fraction of a second for a misguided war.

So, today, Progressive Future is launching our Invest in US Campaign.  We're organizing progressive citizens to tell our leaders how we want our tax dollars spent: To bring the troops home on a reasonable timeline and to invest in the American people—in health care, clean energy, education and our obligations to our veterans.

America is going to have new leadership next year.  But, now is the time to raise our voices for change.

This summer and fall, the major parties will decide where they stand on our priorities; Americans will decide which leaders can get us out of an economic rut and into a more sustainable future; and Congress will decide where to spend billions of our tax dollars.

To shift America’s priorities, it’s clear that we as citizens must lead—and the Invest in US campaign is a way to do that.  By petitioning online and in the streets, we aim to get 25,000 Americans to sign on to the Invest in US statement and join the campaign.

Then, we’ll take the results to the media, the party conventions, and elected officials.

Check out the calculator; learn what your tax dollars could have funded if our leaders had chosen to invest in us; and please sign the petition to take a stand.  Together, we can build a more progressive future.

[cross-posted from www.progressivefuture.org]

So when you're sitting in your house this summer, sweat running down your back because you a.) don't want to spend the utility money and b.) dont want to suck up more of our country's energy, just remember how far that extra hundred dollars could have gone to powering your home with renewable energy. While the U.S. continues to drift down the list in rankings for educational test scores, health care costs, and committment to a renewable energy plan, the money we could be investing in heading a movement to make a better future is getting wasted in Iraq.