Protestors Want War Money To Stop Going Overseas

So far, the U.S. has spent more than a trillion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, a nationwide vigil was held to ask lawmakers to vote no on more war funding.

A small group turned out at Congressman Mike Michaud's office in Waterville.

According to the National Priorities Project, taxpayers in Maine will pay $2,800,000,000,000 on wars.

Lisa Savage is a member of Code Pink, a national group that emerged in 2002 to stop the Bush Administration from invading Iraq.

Savage says you have to break down the dollars for it to make any sense.

"You can start to match up apples to apples and say if one minute of the war in Afghanistan costs 48-thousand, a school district cold hire a new teacher with benefits for almost 48-thousand a year," Said Savage.

Armed with brown bags, Savage is one of the few here in front of Congressman Mike Michaud's office in Waterville Wednesday as part of a nationwide call to congress to stop spending.

"It's got to stop," Said Suzanne Hedrick, one of the protesters.

"Budgets in Maine are being slashed," Said Savage. "Social services, education, road maintenance, all taking big hits and every budget we see coming from Washington has a larger percentage of war spending."

Next month, congress is expected to vote on a war supplement bill totaling $33,000,000,000.

TV-5 contacted Michaud's office and received a response saying he supports the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and opposes an increase in the number of combat troops in Afghanistan. Adding, "I feel compelled to question the effectiveness of committing troops to a prolonged counterinsurgency that could last for years, involve hundreds of thousands of troops and impose huge financial costs on taxpayers already saddled with trillions of dollars in government debt."

A "No" vote is what these folks would like to see, ending the battle of the buck.