speaking of which: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/war-costs-could-reach-16/story.aspx?guid=%7B7A493DBF-174B-4AC9-AF03-CDAF02BD5638%7D
War costs could top $1.6 trillion, panel says By William L. Watts, MarketWatch Last Update: 5:44 PM ET Nov 13, 2007Print E-mail Subscribe to RSS Disable Live Quotes WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost the U.S. economy $1.6 trillion through 2009, about double the amount directly requested by the Bush administration so far, according to a report released Tuesday by Democrats on the House-Senate Joint Economic Committee. The report includes costs not included in the administration's funding requests, including the interest on money borrowed to finance the war, an estimate of the impact on oil markets, and costs tied to treating the wounded and disabled and other related costs. Those costs, when added to direct funding of $607 billion, push total costs for the Iraq war to $1.3 trillion, the report said. If spending in Afghanistan is included, costs could reach $1.6 trillion by the end of fiscal 2008. The report estimated that both wars could carry economic costs of $3.5 trillion between 2003 and 2017. "The full costs of this war to our economy are manifested in ways that have never been accounted for by this administration -- we are funding this war with borrowed money, Americans are paying more at the gas pump and it will take years for our military to recover from the damage of the president's failed war strategy," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The White House and congressional Republicans attacked the report, saying its assumptions about the impact of the war on energy prices and business investment were flawed. "The facts are that Congress has failed to pass energy legislation the president proposed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and since the president's tax relief passed in 2003, real fixed business investment is up nearly 30%, showing positive gains in 15 out of 17 quarters," said Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle, in a statement. Republican members of the Joint Economic Committee said Democrats should withdraw the report. "The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq certainly involve costs, but prematurely pulling out of these wars would also include huge costs that are ignored in the Democrats' report," said Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey, the panel's senior Republicans. William L. Watts covers Congress and politics for MarketWatch. On 11/13/07, Dana <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > is that what is bankrupting us? I thought those costs were all being > absorbed by the thousand points of light ;) > > > On 11/13/07, Robert Munn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We're bankrupting ourselves on the limited health care the government > > already provides, e.g. Medicare. Why do you want to make the problem > > even worse? > > > > On Nov 13, 2007 10:45 AM, Dana wrote: > > > you're right. Bankrupting ourselves with interest on W's debt should > > > also be considered as an option ;) > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Check out the new features and enhancements in the latest product release - download the "What's New PDF" now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:246323 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
