Rangel calls Iraq war death tax on poor/minorities

[MDM4AU 337]

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Rep. Charles Rangel branded the Iraqi war a "death tax" on America's poor and minorities in a speech Thursday criticizing the Bush administration's foreign policy.

A day after he appeared at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, the Harlem congressman ratcheted up his rhetoric against the Iraq war, which he has long opposed.

Speaking of military personnel serving in Iraq, Rangel said: "Where they're going, what a heavy tax is paid on their lives. ... The real death tax is a tax on the poor."

The congressman said about a quarter of those killed in action so far have been black or Hispanic, and are drawn to the military as a way out of economic hardship.

"Too few people are paying this high penalty of a death tax," he told a luncheon at the National Press Club. "They come from communities with the highest unemployment, communities with the lowest wage."

He also repeated his call for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to be fired, and a draft reinstituted to share the burden of the fighting across all segments of society.

"This is not shared sacrifice," he said.

Rangel, a Korean war veteran, recently introduced a resolution in Congress seeking to allow members of military families, the media, and the public to witness the arrival of U.S. remains from Iraq and Afghanistan at military installations.

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Just a few Stats:

African-Americans make up 12.7% of US population

Hispanics make up approximately13.4% of US population

26.1% of US population is Black or Hispanic.

So does it make sense that nearly 25% of those killed in military duty would be black or hispanic?

Got to love a race card playing Dem! :roll:

[CarolinaTiger 0]

"Too few people are paying this high penalty of a death tax,"

this is an odd statement, too...and could have been worded more appropriately.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Rangel isn't exactly a Rhodes scholar. It doesn't surprise me that basic statistics would confuse him.