Food for Thought

09.03

The 87 Billion Dollar Blog (09.16.03)

Since April, a lot of people have asked the question, “How much is the war in Iraq going to cost?”  The answer was generally vague, if offered at all.  The first estimate of the cost of the war was around 79 billion dollars--which was considered a bargain by some who had estimated the cost of the war at up to 150 billion dollars.  I guess we should now be grateful at the bargain cost of the fighting as the peace will be significantly more expensive.  The first bill for the peace is coming due to the tune of 87 billion dollars.

Now, in the US, we throw that word “billion” around like it’s small change.  The word “billion” is sometimes preceded by the word “only” as in “the company sold for only 10 billion dollars.”  For those of you who need a little context for the cost of the peace in Iraq, consider the following:

• We’re going to spend 5 times as much money on Iraq (and the token amount to Afghanistan) as we’re going to spend on the rest of our foreign aid programs.
• We’re going to spend 4 thousand dollars for every Iraqi man, woman, and child.
• We’re going to spend almost 2 ½ times the 2004 Unemployment Insurance budget to support efforts in Iraq.
• And on that subject, the 87 billion dollars amounts to $29,000 for each of the 3,000,000 Americans who have lost their jobs since 2001
• The money we’re spending in Iraq is 1.4 times the budget of the US Department of Education.
• To put it another way, the 87 billion dollars would pay the salaries of 1.98 million teachers for 1 year.  That’s almost 40,000 teachers per state.  Or the entire pay over a 30 year career for 66,000 teachers.
• You could send 21.3 million students to public colleges for a year or 4.7 million to private colleges  Or you could just pay for four year educations for 5.3 million students.
• We’re going to spend 43 times as much on Iraq as we’re going to spend on fighting AIDS in the world in 2004.
• 87 billion is 11 times as much as we’re spending to fight AIDS and Cancer combined in the US in 2004.
• It’s also 11 times the budget of the EPA.
• For 87 billion dollars, you could buy a Hummer for every man, woman and child in Indianapolis or a house for every person living in Baltimore.
• We’re now proposing spending twice as much money in Iraq as we’re proposing spending on a drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries.  But those people will have to wait until after we’ve spent this money on Iraq before they see any benefits in 2005.
• The budget for Iraq is 5 times the budget for NASA, 572 times the budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and 743 times the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Iraq is going to receive an amount equal to 2 ½ times Bill Gates’ net worth.

There is something about this plan that should concern everyone--no matter what your political persuasion (or lack thereof).  What does this say about our priorities?

*All stats listed in this article researched & compiled by Cat White.

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