Photo courtesy of Patrick Diehl

Pete Hegseth would rather the U.S. bomb Iranian families than feed American families. 

That's the upshot of news that Hegseth is prepared to request $200 billion in funding for the Pentagon's new war on Iran.

It should be clear: funding this unjust, unpopular and illegal war would come at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Less than a year after the passage of Trump's signature law that cut spending on healthcare and food stamps, and in the middle of an affordability crisis, this is the last thing the country needs. 

Half of Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities like food, housing, transportation and healthcare. Trump's Big Bad Bill threatens to take health insurance from 17 million people and food stamps from 22 million people.

The $200 billion that Hegseth now wants for his and Trump's Iran war could instead fund this year: 

• Medicaid for the 17 million people who will lose it due to budget cuts and other policies, AND
• Food stamps for the 22 million people who will go hungry due to Trump's budget cuts, AND
• Medical care for the 1.8 million veterans of the last forever war who still live with disabilities, AND
• Tripling the number of kids in Head Start, from just over 700,000 to 1.4 million kids

This is a war of choice that is only making the world more dangerous and more expensive for Americans. 

We should remember the lies that led us into war in Iraq a generation ago. That war ultimately cost nearly $3 trillion. We must not go down that path again,

Our tax dollars should be helping struggling Americans, not feeding new forever wars.