News Release

Tax Day: Binghamton Installs Cost of War Counter at City Hall

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The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote Tuesday: “A group called the National Priorities Project has a popular web site that keeps a running tally of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It even breaks down the cost per city and suggests what could have been purchased in a year with that tax money. …

“Matt Ryan, the mayor of Binghamton, N.Y., population 47,000, was so impressed with the numbers for his town that he plans to attach a digital cost-of-war counter to the facade of City Hall. By September, Binghamton taxpayers will have contributed $138 million to fund the wars.”

SUE McANANAMA
A member of the Broome County Cost of War Project, McAnanama is speaking at a news conference Wednesday with Mayor Ryan.

McAnanama said today: “People need to be aware of the simple facts about where our money is going. This year our Pentagon budget is $700 billion while our community and so many others around the nation are facing cutbacks and crises. …

“Binghamton taxpayers have spent $140 million for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since 2001, which is more than enough to cover ALL local property tax bills for the next FOUR years. … New York taxpayers have already spent $67 billion for the seven years of war in Iraq. Compare that to New York State’s 2009 High Speed Rail Plan, announced in March of 2009, which aims to spend $10.7 billion to ‘transform’ and upgrade our transportation systems — over the next 20 years. … Private sources paid for the sign and even the electricity for it; no taxpayer funds were used for this project.” For further information, see the Binghamton Bridge web site.

JO COMERFORD
CHRIS HELLMAN
Comerford is executive director and Hellman is communications liaison for the National Priorities Project. This year their web site has a tax calculator where taxpayers can put in the amount of federal taxes they paid in 2009 (or 2008) and take stock of how the federal government spent each of their income tax dollars. It also provides localized information that community groups are using to create flyers that some are passing out in front of post offices as many people mail their tax forms tomorrow.

Comerford wrote the piece “Tax Day and America’s Wars: What the Mayor of One Community Hard Hit by War Spending Is Doing,” which states: “A construction crew will soon arrive to install Binghamton’s ‘cost of war’ counter which will overlook the city’s busiest intersection and spur conversation around tax day. During the three minutes local motorists wait at the nearby traffic light, they can join Mayor Ryan in waving good-bye to $100. And Binghamton as a whole can grapple with spending $49,650 in war costs every day of 2010.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167