Murtha lays out what the Iraq invasion and occupation is costing Americans

[bigtree]

What the Iraq War is Costing You

A letter from Murtha to the rest of the Dems.

Dear Democratic Colleague,

We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq. that equates to 2 billion dollars a week, or 267 million dollars a day, or 11 million dollars AN HOUR.

Attached are some comparisons between what we are spending in Iraq as we "stay the course" indefinitely and what those funds could be used for instead.

I've been fighting for our military to get out of Iraq because I'm concerned about the loss of our troops and the future of our military and also because I believe they have accomplished their mission there and the Iraqis must resolve their internal conflict themselves. However, I also wanted to demonstrate what these expenses mean to domestic policy in the United States and give you an idea of just some of the things that what we could accomplish with this amount of money.

Sincerely,

JOHN P. MURTHA
Member of Congress

NATIONAL SECURITY

$33.1 billion/yr Department of Homeland Security FY 07 budget
(4 months in Iraq)

$10 billion (1-time) Equipping commercial airliners with defenses against shoulder fired missiles
(5 weeks in Iraq)

$8.6 billion/7 years Shortage of international aid needed to rebuild Afghanistan
(one month in Iraq)

$5.2 billion (1-time) estimated need for capital improvements to secure public transportation system (trains, subways, buses)

(3 weeks in Iraq)

$1.5 billion/year Radiation detectors needed at all US ports (rejected due to cost)
(5 days in Iraq)

$1.4 billion/ year Double the COPS (community police grants) program
(5 days in Iraq)

$800 million/year public transportation personnel training and technical support
(72 hours in Iraq)

$700 million/year 100% screening of all air cargo - rejected because of
(2 days in Iraq) cost (1/4 of domestic shipping and 1/2 of international shipping
is done on passenger planes)

$350 million (1-time) Make emergency radio systems interoperable
(1.2 days in Iraq) (recommended after 9/11 but hasn't happened yet)

$500 million/year Double the firefighters grant program
(2 days in Iraq)

$94 million/year Restore cuts to cities hit on 9/11 in Homeland Security budget
(8-1/2 hours in Iraq)

HEALTH CARE/VETERANS

$36 billion/5 years reduction for Medicare spending in President's FY 07 budget
(4-1/2 months in Iraq)

$5 billion/5 years Cut in Medicaid in President's FY 2007 budget
(2-1/2 weeks in Iraq)

$2.5 billion/5 years VA health care premium increases in this year's budget. Premiums will double and triple and drug co-payments will increase, costing our military retirees $2.4 billion over 5 years
(9 days in Iraq)

$100 million Additional funding recommended for mental health research for Veterans
(9 hours in Iraq)

$48 million Medical and prosthetic research for Veterans
(half a day in Iraq)

$65 million/yr National Institutes of Health research funding cuts in this year's budget (scientists are leaving the field of health research because funding has been cut so severely)
(6 hours in Iraq)

$15 billion/yr Provide health insurance to 9 million children with no health insurance
(1-1/2 weeks in Iraq)

$118 million/yr The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 elderly people - eliminated in the President's budget
(12 hours in Iraq)

EDUCATION

$3.4 billion/yr Cut in education budget in President's FY 07 budget from FY 06 funding level (over 40 programs including drug-free schools, federal support for the arts,technology and parent-resource centers).
(13 days in Iraq)

$664 million/yr Perkins Loan program cut in President's FY 07 budget (would help
463,000 low-income students attend college)
(2-1/2 days in Iraq)

$99 million/yr Even Start (eliminated in President's budget)
(9 hours in Iraq)

ENVIRONMENT/INFRASTRUCTURE

$300 million President's cut to EPA budget in FY 2007
(1 day, 3 hours in Iraq)

$253 billion/30 years Clean up contaminated sites in US (Up to 350,000 contaminated sites will require cleanup over the next 30 years according to a report released by the EPA.)
(2 years in Iraq)

$9.11 billion National Park Service maintenance backlog
(1 month, 10 days in Iraq)

$6 billion Forest Service maintenance backlog
(3 weeks in Iraq)

$2 billion Fish and Wildlife Service maintenance backlog
(2 weeks in Iraq)

$47.2 billion/yr Miscellaneous user fees throughout government imposed by President's budget on taxpayers
(6 months in Iraq)

$1.7 billion/yr Grants to states cut in 2007 budget
(1 week in Iraq)

$15 million/yr Double the Save America's Treasures program (cut in half from last year's budget)
(1.3 hours in Iraq)

DEFENSE

$6 billion Double the number of Navy ships we are buying in the 2007 bill from 6 ships to 12.
(3 weeks in Iraq)

$8 billion Double the number of total Air Force aircraft we are buying in this bill. That's right ? we could double the number of F-22s, Joint Strike Fighters,
C-130's, Global Hawks and Predators we are buying. Or, we could double the number of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft we are buying F-18s, V-22s, KC-130Js, and so on.
(1 month in Iraq)

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/pa12_murtha/pr071206warcost.html

[ourbluenation]

1. Proud to give this it's first rec

and :kick:

[Avalux]

2. Mindnumbing. K&R.

And a :patriot: to John Murtha.

[LSK]

3. similar info can be found at costofwar.com

http://www.costofwar.com

[chill_wind]

9. Quite incredible. I've been keeping it in my sig.

It's hard to even begin to get your head around the enormity of what this admin has done.

[mediaman007]

4. Hopefully this will hit the MSM!

We've written and read about this on DU for three years! Murtha hits a homerun!

Will the American people wake up? Maybe this could shake them up!!

[BillZBubb]

5. Recommended!

[Nimrod2005]

6. Can I borrow a $100 bucks please?

[BOSSHOG]

7. Thanks COL Murtha - A Big Navy Salute to you!

Imagine factual data.

[blue neen]

8. Murtha spells this out in terms that the average citizen can understand.

This information should be spread far and wide. :patriot:

[katinmn]

10. There he goes again, thinking about America instead of

raiding it.

All legislators should be calling for the same thing.

[wordpix2]

11. thank you, John Murtha---should send to the repukes, too, they don't like

all the $ spent on the war either.

[Sherman A1]

13. Agreed

Start talking some green foldin' money and things start lookin' a whole lot different to 'em.

[TheMadMonk]

41. Could someone customise the copies sent out to reflect...

the special interests of each reps state as was done for Pensylvania.

[Double T]

12. Nice to see the bush catastrophe put into such understandable........

value comparisons. No one should wonder why social programs or anything else get funding.

[chill_wind]

14. We love our military spending in general (graphic)

as opposed to such expenses, as say, taking care of our veterens themselves.

Or quite a lot of other American needs.

[NicoleM]

15. I can't get the link to work.

I get a "The requested page could not be found" message. Is it just me? I'd like to have a link to send to people.

[chill_wind]

17. Working for me in Firefox. Try it again, maybe?

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/pa12_murtha/pr071206warcost.html

See the link in my sig too!

[berni_mccoy]

16. K&R! This should be front-paged!

Front page it! :kick:

[Clarkie1]

18. Excellent Post. Recommended.

Murtha is a true patriot.

[WhiteTara]

19. K & R

:kick:

[abester]

20. wow... 8billion a month

Thats just terrible! Horrific! Shocking!

Its just a taaaaaad more terrible than the 100,000 iraq casualties.

:kick: that you :patriot:'s

:yoiks:

[nguoihue]

21. cost of the war

It would be a hell of a lot less expensive just to buy their oil than to have big oil control it or steal it. Not to mention a lot less death, misery, torture and destruction. But bushy boy wants to be a war president. What a bunch of assholes.

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. And the bushies talk about how this war will go on for generations

...or at least until all the money is gone and they can retire to Saudi Arabia or Dubai or whatever neocon "paradises" they set up with the massive amounts of money they have stolen and killed for.

K & R

[indepat]

23. 'Pukes priorities are startling: it's more startling how the masses eat

this crap up, lock, stock and barrel.

[bigtree]

24. Administration Might Seek $110B More For Iraq, Afghanistan

from National Journal's CongressDailyAM:

The White House might ask Congress for another $110 billion for the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, according to the Bush
administration's annual "mid-session" budget review released Tuesday.

That includes an FY07 supplemental request in the $60 billion range,
followed by another $50 billion "bridge fund" as part of the regular
FY08 budget to fund military operations through the first part of that
fiscal year.

While only a rough estimate of anticipated war-related spending, it
tracks with funding levels appropriated during the last few fiscal
years. It would boost military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan to
about $560 billion since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with
associated foreign aid pushing that figure closer to $600 billion.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12973

[Straight Shooter]

25. Just think of all the Bibles that could be bought for $8 billion!!

Think like a fundie, John. Tell those fundies that all that money spent in Iraq could be, instead, spreading the word of the Lord Jayzus.

Mega churches in every city, professional proselytizers on every street corner, and we can't have them because bush is spending our money in Iraq!

:sarcasm:

[Boxmaker43]

28. Sarcasm only works when done right...

AND YOU DO DO IT RIGHT!

[Bretttido]

33. The cost of Bibles!!!

When buying in bulk off the internet, you can get Bibles for as cheap as $2.00 each when buying a case of 48. (They might give us a discount if we bought millions/billions of them)

$2 (1-time) A Bible for a lost soul!
(0.0007 seconds in Iraq)

$1.4 million (1-time) A Bible for every man, woman, and child in Memphis!
(8 minutes in Iraq)

$600 million (1-time) A Bible for every man, woman, and child in America!
(2.4 days in Iraq)

$12 billion (1-time) A Bible for every man, woman, and child in the entire World!
(1 1/2 months in Iraq)

[Straight Shooter]

38. Heh.

A Bible for a lost soul

:spray:

[Major Hogwash]

26. There it is - our grandkids' future!

Pissed right down the drain!

[Boxmaker43]

29. So in one 8-yr term, the RWR's (Right-Wing Republicans)

have managed not only in wiping out what goodwill Americans had abroad, destroying Iraq (it looks like bombed-out Europe after WWII), not even bothering to look for Osama (who is he anyway?), but also bankrupting the government and destroying our regulatory infrastructure so that if/when there is a change in leadership, the major corporations can continue to avoid regulation or prosecution for their violations of our environment.

Ya gotta hand it to this shill and his brain. They've been very efficient and successful for their true customer base.

[TheCowsCameHome]

27. How can anyone dispute that? Nice job, John.

[rman]

30. not to mention the constitution and our own democracy

[PoBoy321]

31. Very nice article

What really astounds me is that so many purported "conservatives" who wholeheartedly support the war can at the same time talk about the need for tax cuts and fiscal responsibility.

[Recursion]

32. WTF? USN is only procuring 6 ships?

Wow... and here all this time I've been laboring under the assumption that our security rested in having naval and air dominance so unquestionable that no state would dream of a military confrontation with us.... but we're only buying 6 ships and we're retiring last I heard 28. I must have been wrong; instead, our security rests on invading countries that never attacked us and inflaming world opinion against us.

Just imagine, for a second, if we had gone to Afghanistan, committed the entire terrible weight of our armed forces, and caught every single taliban and al qaeda operative we could find. That was the message * talked about sending: attack America, and the fury of Hell will seek you out and find you. I'm not a pacifist (note the avatar), and that's the message I think we should be sending. Rome sent it; England sent it. We used to send it. Now the message we have sent is that if you attack us, we'll demolish the country you live in but make no real effort to fight you beyond that. The muj listen, and the muj adapt.

[IronLionZion]

34. I'm not seeing much return on this Trillion dollar investment

Just imagine what this country would be like if we spent the Iraq money on that other stuff instead... I think it really would pay for itself in giving us a much better future.

[Bandit]

35. $184,000.00 per minute on Iraq alone

Over a hundred thousand dollars a SECOND is how quickly we are expanding our National Debt. Republicans sure know about fiscal reponsibility don't they?

[Gatchaman]

40. $3,000 per second

If it's $184,000 per minute, it can't also be over $100,000 per second.

Every second, we spend what most americans make in a month, and more than most people on earth make in a YEAR.

[Bandit]

43. Did you even read my post?

I said our National Debt was increasing by over One Hundred Thousand a Second while our spending on Iraq is about three thousand a second it is not our Nation Debt but only a part of it. Interest on our National Debt is about a half million dollars a minute, about five times what our spending on Iraq currently is.

[Kurovski]

36. Kick.(nt)

[ramapo]

37. Too damn sensible

Americans will never buy this reasoning.

[confludemocrat]

39. Any comment f/ Biden, Bayh, Hillary, Kerry, Dem leadership? Thought not.

or from Al Franken, for example. Daily Kos? No they like the Plame affair as much as Fox likes missing white women.

[bigtree]

42. US Iraq war costs may rise by $406 billion by 2016

hu Jul 13, 7:59 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
Iraq war could cost U.S. taxpayers between $202 billion and $406 billion more over the next 10 years, depending on how quickly U.S. force levels can be reduced, congressional budget experts said on Thursday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060713/pl_nm/iraq_usa_costs_dc;_ylt=A0SOwkgRDbdEbSEBEAoa.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

[freedomforumadmin]

44. Its a monetary waste

My main opposition to Iraq was the cost (on top of all the lies from W, of course). This is money that could be better used for homeland security programs (for the inept HSD)and could also be allocated to domestic programs benefitting our society and its people.

Money thrown at Iraq is like throwing dollar bills in a bucket and lighting a match to it. Its all a waste.

And our freaking Congress initially approved it, and CONTINUES to do so. Enough already!!!!!!

[Cobalt-60]

45. The river of Money

The objective of the GOPS isnt anything in Iraq, it's the creation of a river of money.
Their domestic friends get fat contracts and their foreign friends will kick back part to GOPs - just as they did under Reagan and old Bush.
And to add insult to injury the moneylenders squeezing your children for interest payments on this river of borrowed money are GOPs too.