It is interesting that nobody mentioned either the presidential budget and the tremendous amount of money we are spending in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and the fact that Obama's proposed budget is asking to increase last year's military budget. We are spending a lot of money fighting people of color in their own countries instead of supporting them to rebuild their countries and/or invest that money in our ownn communities.
Also, in 2009 we will be spending 100 billion dollars on military resources to secure foreign petroleum and reserves, instead of investing this money in the creation of renewable energy sources. This budget is beyond the allocation of the military budget for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the issues that the panelist talked about are extremelly important, I believe that having the information about the proposed presidential budget will have longer term implications than the stimulus package.

Yes, you are right. The national budget is a major issue. Money talks. So when our government continues to invest more in war than education, clean energy or restoring the safety net, it sends the message that people (especially people of color) are not valued.

There were a lot of hot topics that we were unable to cover in the one hour call. Marriage equity, health care and public education to name a few. That's why RaceWire is here. Thanks for your thoughts. Keep the conversation going!

I would hope that the Obama Administration might be asked to have a reprsentative in ARC discussions of Federal policy in the future.