Iraq war, not earmarks, busting federal budget

April 17, 2008
Iraq war, not earmarks, busting federal budget

Bridge to nowhere: $398 million.

Pre-emptive war to nowhere: $3 trillion.

Sometimes it's important to review where our federal tax dollars go and in what proportions. Conventional political spin would have us believe that spending on unnecessary earmarks is busting the budget while the war in Iraq need not enter our fiscal consciousness because it's funded with "supplementals" and therefore "off budget."

The Three Trillion Dollar War

February 23, 2008
The Three Trillion Dollar War

The Bush Administration was wrong about the benefits of the war and it was
wrong about the costs of the war. The president and his advisers expected a
quick, inexpensive conflict. Instead, we have a war that is costing more than
anyone could have imagined.

The cost of direct US military operations - not even including long-term
costs such as taking care of wounded veterans - already exceeds the cost of the
12-year war in Vietnam and is more than double the cost of the Korean War.

And, even in the best case scenario, these costs are projected to be almost
ten times the cost of the first Gulf War, almost a third more than the cost of
the Vietnam War, and twice that of the First World War. The only war in our
history which cost more was the Second World War, when 16.3 million U.S. troops
fought in a campaign lasting four years, at a total cost (in 2007 dollars,
after adjusting for inflation) of about $5 trillion (that's $5 million million,
or £2.5 million million). With virtually the entire armed forces
committed to fighting the Germans and Japanese, the cost per troop (in today's
dollars) was less than $100,000 in 2007 dollars. By contrast, the Iraq war is
costing upward of $400,000 per troop.

Aging Air Force Wants Big Bucks Fix

February 19, 2008
Aging Air Force Wants Big Bucks Fix

WASHINGTON -- Air Force officials are warning that unless their budget is increased dramatically, and soon, the military's high-flying branch won't dominate the skies as it has for decades.

An extra $20 billion each year over the next five _ beginning with an Air Force budget of about $137 billion in 2009 instead of the $117 billion proposed by the Bush administration _ would solve that problem, according to Selva and other senior Air Force officers.

DOD: war budget includes $70 billion for first three months of 2009

January 28, 2008
DOD: war budget includes $70 billion for first three months of 2009

WASHINGTON: The White House will ask Congress next week for another $70 billion (€47.4 billion) for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an amount that would help cover operational costs only until early in 2009 when the next administration takes over.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday that the money, included as part of the administration's 2009 budget request, would be considered an "emergency allowance" to pay for operations beginning Oct. 1, when the budget year begins, until possibly January.

Bush Asks Congress for $46 billion

October 14, 2007

Bush Asks Congress for $46 billion

President Bush challenged Congress to another clash over the direction of the Iraq war yesterday as he asked lawmakers for $46 billion more to pay for overseas military operations and insisted that they approve it by the end of the year.

The president's war funding plan revived the political struggle over Iraq that has grown somewhat dormant in Washington over the past month. Democrats vowed not to rubber-stamp the request and indicated that they will disregard Bush's holiday deadline, holding off any action until next year as they debate a new strategy to counter his leadership on the war.

Trillion-dollar war: Afghanistan and Iraq set to cost more than Vietnam and Korea combined

October 24, 2007

Trillion-dollar war: Afghanistan and Iraq set to cost more than Vietnam and Korea combined

President George Bush will have spent more than $1 trillion on military adventures by the time he leaves office at the end of next year, more than the entire amount spent on the Korean and Vietnam wars combined.

There are also disturbing signs that Mr Bush is preparing an attack on Iran during his remaining months in office. He has demanded $46bn (£22.5bn) emergency funds from Congress by Christmas and included with it a single sentence requesting money to upgrade the B-2 "stealth" bomber.

Charge It to My Kids

October 7, 2007
Charge It to My Kids

Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that leaves you asking: Am I crazy or are they? I had one of those moments last week when Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, was asked about a proposal by some Congressional Democrats to levy a surtax to pay for the Iraq war, and she responded, "We've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything."

Yes, those silly Democrats. They'll raise taxes for anything, even — get this — to pay for a war!

And if we did raise taxes to pay for our war to bring a measure of democracy to the Arab world, "does anyone seriously believe that the Democrats are going to end these new taxes that they're asking the American people to pay at a time when it's not necessary to pay them?" added Ms. Perino. "I just think it's completely fiscally irresponsible."

Friends, we are through the looking glass. It is now "fiscally irresponsible" to want to pay for a war with a tax. These democrats just don't understand: the tooth fairy pays for wars. Of course she does — the tooth fairy leaves the money at the end of every month under Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's pillow. And what a big pillow it is! My God, what will the Democrats come up with next? Taxes to rebuild bridges or schools or high-speed rail or our lagging broadband networks? No, no, the tooth fairy covers all that. She borrows the money from China and leaves it under Paulson's pillow.

Record 2008 Cost of War: $189.3bln

October 1, 2007
Record 2008 Cost of War: $189.3bln

For the fifth time since 2001, Congress is raising the debt limit, increasing it by $850 billion to $9.815 trillion. The Senate approved the plan on a 53-42 vote Thursday night. The House of Representatives has already signed off on the plan, without a direct vote.

According to the folks who follow this stuff closely, the national debt has been rising by an average of $1.36 billion per day since September of last year.

And each citizen now has a share of nearly $30,000.

But Congress has an easy solution to deal with the mounting red ink. Instead of fretting over it, members simply allow the government to borrow more money, much to the consternation of some critics.

Bush to seek $200 billion for war

September 22, 2007
Bush to seek $200 billion for war

WASHINGTON - After smothering efforts by war critics in Congress to drastically cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq, President Bush plans to ask lawmakers next week to approve another massive spending measure -- totaling nearly $200 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through 2008, Pentagon officials said.

If Bush's spending request is approved, 2008 will be the most expensive year of the Iraq war.