Democratic Congressional candidates around the country - Darcy Burner, Eric Massa, Steve Harrison, Donna Edwards, and many more - are embracing the Responsible Plan, an effort to get American troops out of Iraq while preserving regional stability, United States interests and restoring American moral leadership. Every Progressive should read this document. If there is a way forward, this is it.

Here's Steve Harrison, running for Congress against Bush lap dog Vito Fossella in New York's Thirteenth District, speaking on why he was one of the ten original supporters of the Responsible Plan.

On the web: Steve Harrison for Congress
Donate: Steve Harrison's ActBlue Page

The American Revolutionary War lasted, by the most generous estimate, eight years, from 1775 to the Peace of Paris in 1783. The Civil War took four years from Sumter to Appomattox. World War One was fought with American participation for a year or so. World War Two, from Pearl Harbor to the instrument of surrender on the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo harbor lasted less than four, punctuated by the German surrender in Reims and Karlshorst even sooner.

And here we are, entering the sixth year of our awful engagement in Iraq, with neither an end nor victory in sight. It's telling that we don't even know what victory looks like anymore. A Federal Iraq held together by force of arms or some new tyrant? An Iranian fiefdom that, for the sake of appearances and our prestige, tries to be somewhat discreet about its subservience to Tehran?

Meanwhile, we've lost close to four thousand American dead, tens of thousands grievously injured, trillions of dollars, and uncounted numbers of Iraqis. Literally uncounted, because nobody keeps statistics on their dead.

Meanwhile, here at home, the idea that we could wage war on the cheap, with borrowed money and while shifting the tax burden to the middle class, is a cruel, tragic joke. The dollar has lost a bit less than half of its value. Banks are folding. We've entered, in mood if not yet perhaps fact, the third Bush recession. The newest term in the lexicon is jingle mail; homeowners are mailing the keys to homes they can no longer afford to their mortgagers.

As you may know, Wednesday March 19, 2008 is the fifth anniversary of President’s Bush’s immoral, illegal and wrongheaded war in Iraq. Opportunities for protest are vast. The War Resisters, for example, plan to travel to Washington DC to blockade the IRS. But an early spring DC journey is not required. Protest in NYC. Those listed below are my favorites.

Noon

”Grannies' Peace Brigade Knit-In for Peace" rain or shine & with full program for
non-knitters", at Times Square Recruitment Center, Broadway & 44th St. Trains: #1, 2, 3, 7,
S, N, Q, R or W train to Times Sq-42nd St; B, D, F, V to 42nd-Bryant Park; A, C, E to 42nd St.-Port Auth.)

Protest hawk Congress Member Vito Fosella, 8505 4th Ave in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. R train to 86th St. Brooklyn.

4:00 PM

Antiwar contingent in rally at City Hall to stop NYC public school budget cuts. Unions, parents and children protest education budget cuts. The Iraq war has drained billions from our economy that might have been productively spent. The impact of the Bush recession has led Mayor Bloomberg to impose draconian school budget cuts. Protest Trains: R, W to City Hall; #4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall; J, M, Z to Chambers; 2, 3 to Chambers; A, C to Chambers; E to WTC.

I have volunteered to be on the Host Committee for a fundraiser for one of the most amazing women I have ever met: Diane Benson running for Congress in Alaska. And she has been outraising her Republican opponent! Yes, folks, we have a real shot at getting rid of yet another corrupt Bush/Abramoff Republican and replacing him with a true working class American patriot.

Diane Benson has made opposition to the Iraq Quagmire the central focus of her campaign, largely because her son lost his legs serving in Iraq, fighting for Bush's war based on lies. But she also is someone that appeals to Alaska voters because, unlike her primary opponents and the Republican incumbent, she has actually worked as a truck driver and as a commercial fisherman, so can speak for working class Alaskans.

Moveon.org has a fascinating new resource, a listing of the expense of the Iraq War extrapolated out to every Congressional district in the nation.

So let's take a look at what New York City's lone republican, Vito Fossella, is costing his community (.pdf file).

The Iraq War has cost New Yorkers as a whole $40.91 billion. The cost to residents of the Thirteenth Congressional District amounts to $1.56 billion.

From the report:

What Citizens of New York's 13th District Could Have Gotten Instead:
· Health care coverage for 283,252 people—or 536,733 kids, or
· Head Start for 177,181 additional kids, or
· 18,745 new elementary school teachers, or
· 256,786 scholarships to make college more affordable, or
· Renewable electricity for 2,917,228 homes, or
· 8,857 affordable housing units, or
· 30,939 public safety officers to keep the streets safe

These numbers become more scandalous when you compare them with actual Census data. The total population of the district is estimated in 2005 at 669,362; that's $2,330 and change per person in the district. The district has only 45,471 children under five, thereby eligible for Head Start - not 177,181. It has only 257,907 housing units - not 2,917,228.