Iraq Occupation Costs $720 Million Each Day

[Truth.Revealed]

Iraq Occupation Costs $720 Million Each Day

The money spent on one day of the Iraq war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for 423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee, which displayed those statistics on large banners in cities nationwide Thursday and Friday.

The war is costing $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute, according to the group's analysis of the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews

Edited September 22, 2007 by Truth.Revealed

[Unlimited]

only a half million a minute..lets work on that!!...it seems worth it *bangs head on desk*

[raoulduke666]

that makes me sick

[Unlimited]

that makes me sick

that about sums it up, you could become energy independent with that money....thats not the elites plan tho....

[Moon Monkey]

Crikey. What a waste.

[Atheist God]

I heard the war cost is going up to and in another figure I had heard they said the war costs 10 billion a week.

The sole reason why Iraq costs as much as what it does is because the government is corrupt and things the military once did are now being contracted out to companies like Halliburton and Black Water.

A meal for one soldier costs the US 30$ a plate through the contractor KBR a subsidiary of Halliburton which is the company that Dick Cheney ran for 5 years before accepting the job as VP. It is clear that all the no bid contracts they receive which is more then any other service provider contracted in Iraq is clearly the result of Dick Cheney who in my opinion is still on their payroll and will likely get his old job back after the dems take power in 08.

[Lt_Ripley]

and yet they have no money for health care. don't forget Bush has raided social security long ago because of the war. If you find yourself destitute at age 70 (because corporations don't offer and or reniged on pensions and your income isn't enough to 'save' for retirement) you know who to blame.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Lt_Ripley

[questionmark]

and yet they have no money for health care. don't forget Bush has raided social security long ago because of the war. If you find yourself destitute at age 70 (because corporations don't offer and or reniged on pensions and your income isn't enough to 'save' for retirement) you know who to blame.

But it is not only your future, it is the present for many people. The US economy was on the credit respirator ever since Dubya took office, which may, or may not, have been the intention of the government. The national budgets is mostly credit financed, which was the intention of the government.

The stupidity of the administration even brought the US economy to the point where it was cheaper to buy products that could be well made in the US from abroad causing the US to owe huge amounts of money, of which the bill will surely follow some day.

But I better don't get started else I will start foaming from my mouth and not stop writing.....

[The Silver Thong]

Come on folks it's all for a good cause right? The long arm of so called democracy that the U.S. decides to share or is it the caring and nurturing side of the west that wants to spread Christianity?

[Fluffybunny]

I think by the time bush is done he is going to make Carter look like a brilliant economist who launched the economy into strength and prosperity...

[zitro1987]

Wow, that's just depressing. With that money, we could get tons of homeless people education, shelter, and end up with lots of more human capital and production.

[The Silver Thong]

Wow, that's just depressing. With that money, we could get tons of homeless people education, shelter, and end up with lots of more human capital and production.

Oh Oh now you will labeled as a commie......... Quick go hide

[Atheist God]

Wow, that's just depressing. With that money, we could get tons of homeless people education, shelter, and end up with lots of more human capital and production.

You could also have socialized medicine too which is waaaayyyy..... better the the privately run for profit system currently in place.

[el midgetron]

Daddy Warbucks gives the "thumbs up".

[Bob26003]

BLOOD MONEY

[EmpressStarXVII]

If only that could have went into building new schools, building recreation centers to keep kids off dangerous streets, fund education, build homeless shelters, food pantries, free clothing bazaar, employee more people for the meals-on-wheels programme, Imagine if we all got to go to the doctor one day for free? The last time I went to the doctor was 3 years ago lol. Or how about funding new industry in our country? It seems like the industry jobs are very rare.

So many things.....

[leadbelly]

Quote(Lt_Ripley @ Sep 22 2007, 11:14 PM)

and yet they have no money for health care. don't forget Bush has raided social security long ago because of the war. If you find yourself destitute at age 70 (because corporations don't offer and or reniged on pensions and your income isn't enough to 'save' for retirement) you know who to blame.

What is the process for removing funds from the Soc. Sec. system? How did the Administration appropriate those monies, for the war in Iraq? I am just wondering.

Yes, at 12% annual inflation, health care (and cost to doctors via their business insurance) is way above everything else. You add into that, the Medicare pharma program (first of its kind, and currently losing money), and a big farm package this year, there remains less money for health care.

But it is not only your future, it is the present for many people. The US economy was on the credit respirator ever since Dubya took office, which may, or may not, have been the intention of the government. The national budgets is mostly credit financed, which was the intention of the government.

The stupidity of the administration even brought the US economy to the point where it was cheaper to buy products that could be well made in the US from abroad causing the US to owe huge amounts of money, of which the bill will surely follow some day.

But I better don't get started else I will start foaming from my mouth and not stop writing.....

"credit respirator"- yes, and no, IMO. A modern society needs credit. And, yes, we have a hugh excess of long-term debt. On the other hand (and I just looked through the tables), for 2007, the U.S. is running around 1.5% of national debt against a $13.8 trillion economy. In WWII, we ran about 30%, and we are on a par with the Korean and Viet Nam war national debt status. We survived those, and hopefully, we will pay this war off within several years of its culmination.

Beyond all of that, the issue of the economy would have been better served, if a concerted effort, and decade-long plan to gut the U.S. financially, through various attacks, one way or the other, had not been attempted by elements from the Middle East. I do think, though, the embargo against Iraq during the Clinton and Bush II administrations was geared toward fulminating internal rebellion, within Iraq. That failed, and was not the best policy, IMO.

However, that is what was deemed necessary, by those in charge of foreign policy, right or wrong (mostly a predictable failure).

Edited September 23, 2007 by leadbelly

[Guardsman Bass]

Is that a 1.5% increase annually in the national debt against the United States's economy, or the total amount of debt in terms of percentage of the United States' GDP? According to the Treasury Department, the amount of United States's outstanding intragovernmental debt is around US$3.924 trillion, which would be equivalent to 28% of the US GDP. It's not the worst in the world in terms of relation to the size of the economy (Japan's debt as a percentage of GDP is far, far larger), but it still is an enormous amount in absolute terms.

[questionmark]

Is that a 1.5% increase annually in the national debt against the United States's economy, or the total amount of debt in terms of percentage of the United States' GDP? According to the Treasury Department, the amount of United States's outstanding intragovernmental debt is around US$3.924 trillion, which would be equivalent to 28% of the US GDP. It's not the worst in the world in terms of relation to the size of the economy (Japan's debt as a percentage of GDP is far, far larger), but it still is an enormous amount in absolute terms.

Lets see this from another perspective, paying interest on the US debt costs as much as Social Security and Medicaid TOGETHER!!!!! If the US keeps accruing debt at this speed within a year paying interest will be more expensive than the whole Department of Defense budget.

Edited September 23, 2007 by questionmark

[explorer]

We survived those, and hopefully, we will pay this war off within several years of its culmination.

Any idea when the rumination will turn into culmination?