War Costing $720 Million Each Day, Group Says

[deminks]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102074.html

CHICAGO, Sept. 21 -- 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 and half a million dollars 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.

The estimates made by the group, which opposes the conflict, include not only the immediate costs of war but also ongoing factors such as long-term health care for veterans, interest on debt and replacement of military hardware.

"The wounded are coming home, and many of them have severe brain and spinal injuries, which will require round-the-clock care for the rest of their lives," said Michael McConnell, Great Lakes regional director of the AFSC, a peace group affiliated with the Quaker church.

The $720 million figure breaks down into $280 million a day from Iraq war supplementary funding bills passed by Congress, plus $440 million daily in long-term costs already incurred but not yet paid for.

[baldguy]

1. One day in Iraq could fund the average school distict for 10 yrs.

4 yrs in Iraq pays for every school district in New York State.

6 yrs - every school district in New York and California.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. you hit it right on the head, my friend. THAT's the reason for the forever war, the

reason for the National Security state: so there won't be ANY money for ANYthing else, especially education

a benighted, hungry, sick populace will NEVER, EVER be able to topple an authoritarian, fascist regime, the likes of which the world has never seen....just give it a few more years, and it'll make Stalin's, Hitler's, and Mao's regimes look like the Oneida Colony.

[onehandle]

3. 25 seconds worth of Iraq war would pay off our mortgage. nt

[Generic Brad]

4. I wonder how much is collected in Federal taxes each day

What kind of debt is this deadly fool's errand wracking up? How is the bill going to be paid?

So many questions but no answers from our leaders.

[madrchsod]

5. that`s a lot of health care is`t it...

[Middle finga]

6. One day would provide over 30,000 high school kids 2 years college for free

[shance]

7. That's 720 million of our tax payer dollars so they can take us over like Germany

Wake up Americans.

It's your future and your children's too.