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RedditPEACE SIGNS: Dusting off an old Clintonian catchphrase, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) has found a new way to sum up the connection between the war in Iraq and the economic crisis at home--"It's the war economy, stupid!" The slogan is all over bumper stickers, T-shirts and other paraphernalia launched for the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion. According to UFPJ's Leslie Cagan, the phrase "is about catching people's eyes and drawing attention to misplaced economic priorities when our neighborhoods really need the money."
Statistics from the National Priorities Project, distributed by UFPJ to 1,400 member organizations, convey the war's staggering economic impact at the local level [see the "Class War" centerfold in this issue]. To date, the war has cost taxpayers in Memphis $817 million--enough to build sixty-three new elementary schools. In Seattle, war costs could have provided healthcare to 179,750 residents. In Richmond, 32,812 students could have received college scholarships. ELIZABETH HENDERSON
SUBPRIME HAZARDS: A disastrous year for homeowners ended with the highest foreclosure rate on record, according to recent reports by the Federal Reserve and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). One in four subprime mortgages is past due or in foreclosure. Home equity has dropped to its lowest level since World War II, and Americans owned less than half the value of their homes by the end of 2007. For black homeowners, with nearly 90 percent of their net worth locked into their homes, the effects of the housing bust may prove nothing short of devastating.
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