Friday, September 7, 2007

Costs of the War (Financial)

How Much Does the Iraq War Cost? - Dean Baker

The Post reports that President Bush is requesting another $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Aghanistan. This brings the total for the year to approximately $200 billion.

It would be helpful if these numbers were put in a context that would make them meaningful to readers. This spending accounts for approximately 6.7 percent of the federal budget. Alternatively, the wars cost every person in the country approximately $670 a year in taxes.

Or, to use another measure, the cost of the war is twenty times the additional funding proposed in a Senate bill to extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The additional $50 billion requested by President Bush is five times the size of the additional funding in the Senate bill.

--Dean Baker

Posted at 05:52 AM
August 28, 2007

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