Why Don't We Talk More About the Money Going to Iraq - the billions

[leftyladyfrommo]

and billions that is being poured down a rathole over there.

I don't hear that argument much.

New Orleans is still a mess.

We have 46 million with no health insurance.

We have almost a million homeless people on the streets.

We are second to the bottom on the welfare of our children.

Our schools could use a whole lot of help.

Our elderly need a whole lot of help.

It just goes on and on and on.

And Bush is cutting all the social programs - shifting all the money to Iraq.

It is awful. And Congress should be jumping up and down.

[Jim Warren]

1. A great, great, question!

I hammer this home whenever I'm talking with wingnuts I have to deal with.
This is one of the great fallacies of the right wing going simply unremarked. Why is there no backlash on these "small government", fiscal conservatives types.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. And all the money that is simply not accounted for. Billions.

Lots of people over there getting fabulously wealthy on our tax money. But not us. That's for sure.

Govt. seems to forget that we work really hard for that money. It is not theirs to just throw away any ole how they feel like.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. See? No responses. No one wants to breech the topic.

I never hear anyone ask the president just how much we have spent in Iraq. I never hear anyone point out all the millions of better uses for that money.

[EFerrari]

4. The war is a huge boondoggle. And don't forget that the CPA

managed to "lose" billions of Iraqi funds, too. The people of Iraq would like to know where it went.

The Iraq infrastructure is much worse now that it was when Saddam was in power, even after we bombed them for a dozen years and starved them with sanctions.

It's not that our kids are being overlooked in favor of Iraqi kids. It's more that both ours and theirs are being strip mined by BushCo. :)

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. The Iraqi kids can't even make it to school. Way too dangerous.

God. What a horrible mess.

I don't know why Bush just doesn't get booed right off the podium. Why does anyone give that man any respect?

He should be tarred and feathered and run right out of Washington on a very public rail.

[EFerrari]

16. Iraq used to be the model for medical care in that region.

Now there's raw sewage in hospitals and not even the most basic supplies.

If those people don't hate us all, I don't know why not.

[itsmesgd]

5. like chimpy said "money trumps peace"

Is there any money in New Orleans, nope. Do the poor who cannot afford insurance have any money, nope. Do the homeless have money, nope. Do the school kids or elderly have any money for the shrub or his minions, nope.

[Jim Warren]

6. Agreed to all of the above

and more.
But, why, why, why, is this not a talking point of....well, say Dem candidates? It seems like this has to be one of the pugs weakest links, directly counter their very political foundation.

[bryant69]

7. I don't know exactly what you mean

But a few points.

Bush isn't diverting funds from America to pay for the war on Iraq. He's diverting funds from America to give tax cuts to the rich - even if the war ended tomorrow he would still be cutting social programs.

Secondly, we do owe the Iraqi people for having blown the hell out of their country. Yeah we do need to pull our troops out of there, but we have a moral obligation to keep supporting that nation to repay some of the damage we have caused. Of course the bulk of our current expense is the invasion force, so presumably pulling our troops out would free up some money for this purpose.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Lars39]

10. Military budget's up 11 or so percent.

US military budget is now greater than all the rest of the countries' military budgets combined.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. Yea. That's another thing. Where is all that money going? The

troops still don't have armor on their equipment.

How much is actually feeding into terrorist hands?

[itsmesgd]

14. plus the war has not been included in the budget

that is why we have the supplemental allocations. We've paid (or borrowed) half a trillion for this war so far. 500 billion could fix New Orleans, feed the poor, treat the sick and so on.

[leftyladyfrommo]

17. Borrowed from the Chinese?

Their human and animal rights violations are worse than Sadaam's were.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. So, if we weren't in a war where would all that money have gone?

Billions and billions and billions.

[bryant69]

21. Hard to say exactly, but it would NOT have gone to the poor and needy

At least not if Bush had anything to say about it - corporate welfare maybe?

Bryant

[OwnedByFerrets]

15. If ONLY we could have

the IDIOTS who voted FOR this illegal war pay for it and the reconstruction out of THEIR pockets only. I didn't vote for this war and it bothers me that instead of helping and rebuilding New Orleans, my government is sending MY money over to Iraq to rebuild that country. I want it spent HERE on OUR poor.
If that is hard-hearted and cold, I do apologize.

[Tin Man]

8. A number like 500 billion is too abstract. Most folks couldn't even tell ya how many zeros in that.

People just don't understand numbers that large - too large a departure from personal experience. Hell, most folks probably don't know the difference between billion and trillion.

Generally speaking, people don't grasp/understand the significance of moneys greater than what might be found in their personal bank account.

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. In my case that would be about $50. LOL

I think you are right. People just can't grasp how bad this situation really is.

[Jim Warren]

18. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics says $2.3T

Columbia Professor Stiglitzs' paper:
http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/cost_of_war_in_iraq.pdf

A synopsis news atricle:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0110/dailyUpdate.html

Trillion. Thanks Tin Man

[Tin Man]

19. Looking at Stiglitz - I'm seeing $2.3 Trillion (and that was more than 1 year ago)

on edit: make that $2.3 Trillion

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. And for nothing! We are getting absolutely nothing for our money.

It just makes me sick.

2 trillion for nothing! I just don't understand why the press isn't just going crazy over this. Why isn't Congress?

John Edwards where are you!