On funding schools, here in America and in Iraq

To the editor: Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo deserves the appreciation of seniors all over Orange County for his leadership role in fighting for school tax relief. Equally important is the need for supervisors in each school district to band together or to coordinate the efforts to submit legislation to that part of government that can help make a difference for seniors who no longer are financially productive to meet property taxes, the majority of which is the present method of funding school taxes. I am most desirous of learning why it is important to finance the building of schools and hospitals in Iraq while the governor of New York reduces the funding of schools and the administration in Washington wants $120 billion more for Iraq and, if approved, the money spent on this unnecessary war will hit $440 billion. Just think in an accountable way - the Department of Veterans Affairs budget is about $68 billion per year, which was under funded in 2005 and expenses in Iraq are $4.5 billion per month and $800 million per month in Afghanistan. If anything, more of our soldiers die every month. There is no visible enemy to fight and our disabled American soldiers are shortchanged because the V. A. funding is not equal to the task. Jack A. Porter Warwick