Many Americans are very uninformed about the cost of the war in Iraq.

[Charles_Main]

So the other day I was talking politics with a friend. We got on the subject of how much the Deficit has increased under Obama.

He pulled out the lefts favorite line about Bush keeping the Iraq was off Budget. He then said that the war was costing 700 Billion a year and if that had been on bushes last Budget he would have ran a 1.2 Trillion dollar Deficit.

It took a lot of arguing to explain to him that according to the CBO the way in Iraq has cost a total of 1 Trillion dollars OVER 10 Years. Which amounts to 100 Billion a year not 700 Billion. The 700 Billion number he was referring to is actually just the estimated amount the war had cost up until the point that Bush left office. In total, not per YEAR!

meaning that if Bush had kept the war on Budget it would have increased his last deficit to 550 Billion still less than half the amount of Obama's first deficit and second, and all his projected Deficits for the next 10 years.

I blame the Media for the level of misinformation and Ignorance about the Deficit,how much it has increased, and how much War had to do with it.

 

[Sallow]

So the other day I was talking politics with a friend. We got on the subject of how much the Deficit has increased under Obama.

He pulled out the lefts favorite line about Bush keeping the Iraq was off Budget. He then said that the war was costing 700 Billion a year and if that had been on bushes last Budget he would have ran a 1.2 Trillion dollar Deficit.

It took a lot of arguing to explain to him that according to the CBO the way in Iraq has cost a total of 1 Trillion dollars OVER 10 Years. Which amounts to 100 Billion a year not 700 Billion. The 700 Billion number he was referring to is actually just the estimated amount the war had cost up until the point that Bush left office. In total, not per YEAR!

meaning that if Bush had kept the war on Budget it would have increased his last deficit to 550 Billion still less than half the amount of Obama's first deficit and second, and all his projected Deficits for the next 10 years.

I blame the Media for the level of misinformation and Ignorance about the Deficit,how much it has increased, and how much War had to do with it.

So how is it you missed that TARP was initated by the Bush administration?

 

[Charles_Main]

So the other day I was talking politics with a friend. We got on the subject of how much the Deficit has increased under Obama.

He pulled out the lefts favorite line about Bush keeping the Iraq was off Budget. He then said that the war was costing 700 Billion a year and if that had been on bushes last Budget he would have ran a 1.2 Trillion dollar Deficit.

It took a lot of arguing to explain to him that according to the CBO the way in Iraq has cost a total of 1 Trillion dollars OVER 10 Years. Which amounts to 100 Billion a year not 700 Billion. The 700 Billion number he was referring to is actually just the estimated amount the war had cost up until the point that Bush left office. In total, not per YEAR!

meaning that if Bush had kept the war on Budget it would have increased his last deficit to 550 Billion still less than half the amount of Obama's first deficit and second, and all his projected Deficits for the next 10 years.

I blame the Media for the level of misinformation and Ignorance about the Deficit,how much it has increased, and how much War had to do with it.

So how is it you missed that TARP was initated by the Bush administration?

I didn't miss it. Tarp was a one time expense not an annual one. How do you explain 1.5 Trillion dollar deficits for the foreseeable future? No stimulus or Tarp this year, yet another 1.5 Trillion dollar deficit with 1 Trillion plus projected for the next 10 years. That is regular spending, not emergency spending like Tarp. Any future emergency spending like the stimulus or Tarp, will be over an above the 1.5 Trillion dollar deficits we currently are running.

So the point of this was, With or with out the War on budget Obama still has grown the Deficit by at least double, and plans to keep it that way for some time. All we can even get him to agree to is 61 Billion in cuts. Mere chump change compared to the total Deficit.

Going By the WH projections if Obama has 2 terms, we will be over 20 Trillion in total Debt before he leaves office. Splain that one.

 

[Sallow]

So the other day I was talking politics with a friend. We got on the subject of how much the Deficit has increased under Obama.

He pulled out the lefts favorite line about Bush keeping the Iraq was off Budget. He then said that the war was costing 700 Billion a year and if that had been on bushes last Budget he would have ran a 1.2 Trillion dollar Deficit.

It took a lot of arguing to explain to him that according to the CBO the way in Iraq has cost a total of 1 Trillion dollars OVER 10 Years. Which amounts to 100 Billion a year not 700 Billion. The 700 Billion number he was referring to is actually just the estimated amount the war had cost up until the point that Bush left office. In total, not per YEAR!

meaning that if Bush had kept the war on Budget it would have increased his last deficit to 550 Billion still less than half the amount of Obama's first deficit and second, and all his projected Deficits for the next 10 years.

I blame the Media for the level of misinformation and Ignorance about the Deficit,how much it has increased, and how much War had to do with it.

So how is it you missed that TARP was initated by the Bush administration?

I didn't miss it. Tarp was a one time expense not an annual one. How do you explain 1.5 Trillion dollar deficits for the foreseeable future? No stimulus or Tarp this year, yet another 1.5 Trillion dollar deficit with 1 Trillion plus projected for the next 10 years. That is regular spending, not emergency spending like Tarp. Any future emergency spending like the stimulus or Tarp, will be over an above the 1.5 Trillion dollar deficits we currently are running.

So the point of this was, With or with out the War on budget Obama still has grown the Deficit by at least double, and plans to keep it that way for some time. All we can even get him to agree to is 61 Billion in cuts. Mere chump change compared to the total Deficit.

Going By the WH projections if Obama has 2 terms, we will be over 20 Trillion in total Debt before he leaves office. Splain that one.

Extending Bush's tax cuts?

And yeah..I was totally against that one. Politically it was a great move. But it was terrible for the country.

 

[rdean]

CBO: $2.8 Trillion in Defense Spending by 2015 | CNSnews.com

CBO: $2.8 Trillion in Defense Spending by 2015
Tuesday, February 22, 2011

According to both CBO and DOD estimates, the Pentagon will need $2.8 trillion in discretionary spending from 2011 to 2015, the report finds. That cost does not include the continuing costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which neither the Pentagon nor the CBO can provide accurate estimates.

The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond

But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war's broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected.

GOP Scoffed At CBO Score For Iraq That Was Twice The Cost Of Health Care

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee had worked diligently to defeat the attempts of their Democratic colleagues to make those estimates public.

Hard Lessons Report: Iraq War

Postwar Iraq Likely To Cost More Than War

How the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are crippling the US economy

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have already been treated in VA medical facilities; and many will require care for the rest of their lives. Half-a-million people plus have filed for disability compensation. And the total lifetime cost of providing for these veterans is likely to tally between $600 billion and $900 billion, as mentioned above. But of course, even these huge numbers don't include the economic costs that are borne by veterans and their families, in terms of diminished quality of life, lost employment and long-term suffering.

We will also to need to find billions of dollars to replace vehicles, weapons and other equipment that will never be repatriated.

========================

Don't forget, higher oil costs so far have added another 250 billion (or quarter of a trillion)

Add another trillion in cost to the tens of thousands maimed and will have to be taken care of for life.

I don't think the actual cost has come out because everyone is too afraid of what it really is.

 

[Charles_Main]

Forgot to point out, the Tarp Funds were meant to be paid back as well. In fact if I recall right over half have of it has been already.

 

[Charles_Main]

Anyways, the real point of this post is that there seems to be a lot of people who are very ignorant about the cost of the war so far. I hear all sorts of people claiming that the cost of the war in Iraq alone is the lions share of our Debt and Deficit problems, when in fact it is less than 10% of the over all Deficit each year, and about 6% of our total Debt.


As far as what dean pointed out about the hidden cost of the war. Can't argue much with that one, but then those costs are not reflected in Obama's current budgets or projected deficits for the next 10 years. they are over an above it.

I want to know why we all of the sudden need to spend over 4 Trillion dollars a year when we were only spending 3 Trillion a year such a short time ago. Surely you can admit that can not all be blamed on Bush.

We are going to have to make some tough cuts, and make them soon. across the board, no sacred cows, or eventually it is inevitable our creditors will cut us off, and there will be a crash of the dollar that will make today look like the good ole days.

I do mean across the board with no sacred cows when I say it. Cut entitlements, cut Defense, cut it all. Yes I know people will lose jobs, and needed help, but if we crash the whole system a whole lot more people will lose their jobs, and be with out help.

It is quite the pickle we find ourselves in. No one person can be blamed. This has been building for 30 years plus.

 

[Sallow]

Anyways, the real point of this post is that there seems to be a lot of people who are very ignorant about the cost of the war so far. I hear all sorts of people claiming that the cost of the war in Iraq alone is the lions share of our Debt and Deficit problems, when in fact it is less than 10% of the over all Deficit each year, and about 6% of our total Debt.


As far as what dean pointed out about the hidden cost of the war. Can't argue much with that one, but then those costs are not reflected in Obama's current budgets or projected deficits for the next 10 years. they are over an above it.

I want to know why we all of the sudden need to spend over 4 Trillion dollars a year when we were only spending 3 Trillion a year such a short time ago. Surely you can admit that can not all be blamed on Bush.

We are going to have to make some tough cuts, and make them soon. across the board, no sacred cows, or eventually it is inevitable our creditors will cut us off, and there will be a crash of the dollar that will make today look like the good ole days.

I do mean across the board with no sacred cows when I say it. Cut entitlements, cut Defense, cut it all. Yes I know people will lose jobs, and needed help, but if we crash the whole system a whole lot more people will lose their jobs, and be with out help.

It is quite the pickle we find ourselves in. No one person can be blamed. This has been building for 30 years plus.

Okay..sounds reasonable. But cuts have to be phased in. Radical cuts are just as bad as not cutting at all.

 

[onecut39]

Forgot to point out, the Tarp Funds were meant to be paid back as well. In fact if I recall right over half have of it has been already.

********************************

Let us not forget that Bush ran up something over 6 trllion in debt, not counting TARP, in his term.

Two unfunded wars, two unfunded tax cuts, an unfunded "prebate". All overwhelmingly favored by our "fiscally conservative Republicans". And we shipped 20% of our economy overseas.

Obama's first budget was in 2010. He inherited the recession with the massive unemployment and subsequent massive reductions in revenue.

I think it somewhat of a miracle that we are still functioning.

 

[Charles_Main]

Forgot to point out, the Tarp Funds were meant to be paid back as well. In fact if I recall right over half have of it has been already.

********************************

Let us not forget that Bush ran up something over 6 trllion in debt, not counting TARP, in his term.

Two unfunded wars, two unfunded tax cuts, an unfunded "prebate". All overwhelmingly favored by our "fiscally conservative Republicans". And we shipped 20% of our economy overseas.

Obama's first budget was in 2010. He inherited the recession with the massive unemployment and subsequent massive reductions in revenue.

I think it somewhat of a miracle that we are still functioning.

Even if I grant you everything you claim. It still does not explain why we need to run 1 Trillion plus Deficits for the next 10 years. Some of the blame for that has to be on Obama.

 

[Charles_Main]

Anyways, the real point of this post is that there seems to be a lot of people who are very ignorant about the cost of the war so far. I hear all sorts of people claiming that the cost of the war in Iraq alone is the lions share of our Debt and Deficit problems, when in fact it is less than 10% of the over all Deficit each year, and about 6% of our total Debt.


As far as what dean pointed out about the hidden cost of the war. Can't argue much with that one, but then those costs are not reflected in Obama's current budgets or projected deficits for the next 10 years. they are over an above it.

I want to know why we all of the sudden need to spend over 4 Trillion dollars a year when we were only spending 3 Trillion a year such a short time ago. Surely you can admit that can not all be blamed on Bush.

We are going to have to make some tough cuts, and make them soon. across the board, no sacred cows, or eventually it is inevitable our creditors will cut us off, and there will be a crash of the dollar that will make today look like the good ole days.

I do mean across the board with no sacred cows when I say it. Cut entitlements, cut Defense, cut it all. Yes I know people will lose jobs, and needed help, but if we crash the whole system a whole lot more people will lose their jobs, and be with out help.

It is quite the pickle we find ourselves in. No one person can be blamed. This has been building for 30 years plus.

Okay..sounds reasonable. But cuts have to be phased in. Radical cuts are just as bad as not cutting at all.

Ok, but we can't take to long either. It is only a matter of time before nobody will lend us money anymore. Would you keep giving a country money when it seems pretty clear they will never be able to pay it all back?

I wouldn't

the only real answer is massive economic Growth. How we do that is debatable, but it is the only real way we will ever begin to claw our way out of this mess.

We balanced it once back in the 90's. Dems like to credit Clinton, Republicans say it was the Republican Congress. The truth is it was burst of Economic Growth that lead to those short lived balanced budgets. Once the tech Bubble Burst it was over, and we were already back into the red slightly by the time Clinton left office.

 

[MarcATL]

RW math...CLASSIC!!