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$500,000,000,000.00
Author: TriSec
Date: 03/11/2008 10:46:47
Good Morning.
Over the past week, we've finally crossed a devastating financial milestone.
We find today's cost of war passing through $501,570,000,000.00
Such a number is difficult to grasp. That's 500 billion that's been squandered on Bush's folly.
With the current US population at a hair over 300 million, let's do some math.
That's $1,670 for every man, woman and child currently alive in the US, from 100 years to 100 seconds old. Just think of it. The baby emerging from its mother at the very moment you read this is already saddled with almost $1700 of debt. Your elderly grandmother on a fixed income, too.
33 cities in the United States could have a public works project on the scale of Boston's Big Dig.
We could send 2 million students to Harvard University on a full, four-year scholarship.
Or, you could buy about 5 billion barrels of oil, at the current market rates...
At the website referenced above, you can drill down into your community. So let's see what Bush's folly has cost Waltham, MA:
Of course, war has a human cost, too. As always, we'll check the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 3983
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 3844
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3522
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3124
Since Election (1/31/05): 2546
Other Coalition Troops: 308
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 485
Although it's far less of an impact nationally than the financial toll, that works out to 1 out of every 75,000 Americans that has been killed in this war. Although the estimated number of wounded varies widely (estimated, because the Pentagon has never provided an official figure) that ratio could be as low as 1 out of every 3,000 Americans as a casualty of this war.
War also has a political cost. Never mind our reputation in the world, or our use of torture, or our utter callousness in treating Iraq and the Iraqis as our private military park...just focusing on one item, President Bush's approval rating has sunk to a range of 29-39% (curious, since other outlets are reporting less than 20%). In any case, I'd have to say that the Republicans and their policies have been thoroughly discredited, don't you think?
And if that's not enough, think about something one of our own members said a few days ago. "Voting for McCain is like voting for a third term of Bush."
America can't survive four more years of this.
Over the past week, we've finally crossed a devastating financial milestone.
We find today's cost of war passing through $501,570,000,000.00
Such a number is difficult to grasp. That's 500 billion that's been squandered on Bush's folly.
With the current US population at a hair over 300 million, let's do some math.
That's $1,670 for every man, woman and child currently alive in the US, from 100 years to 100 seconds old. Just think of it. The baby emerging from its mother at the very moment you read this is already saddled with almost $1700 of debt. Your elderly grandmother on a fixed income, too.
33 cities in the United States could have a public works project on the scale of Boston's Big Dig.
We could send 2 million students to Harvard University on a full, four-year scholarship.
Or, you could buy about 5 billion barrels of oil, at the current market rates...
At the website referenced above, you can drill down into your community. So let's see what Bush's folly has cost Waltham, MA:
Taxpayers in Waltham, Massachusetts have paid $147.3 million for the Iraq War thus far. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
44,145 People with Health Care OR
229,644 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR
2,889 Public Safety Officers OR
2,522 Music and Arts Teachers OR
15,351 Scholarships for University Students OR
6 New Elementary Schools OR
512 Affordable Housing Units OR
55,231 Children with Health Care OR
17,618 Head Start Places for Children OR
2,108 Elementary School Teachers OR
2,480 Port Container Inspectors
Of course, war has a human cost, too. As always, we'll check the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 3983
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 3844
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3522
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3124
Since Election (1/31/05): 2546
Other Coalition Troops: 308
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 485
Although it's far less of an impact nationally than the financial toll, that works out to 1 out of every 75,000 Americans that has been killed in this war. Although the estimated number of wounded varies widely (estimated, because the Pentagon has never provided an official figure) that ratio could be as low as 1 out of every 3,000 Americans as a casualty of this war.
War also has a political cost. Never mind our reputation in the world, or our use of torture, or our utter callousness in treating Iraq and the Iraqis as our private military park...just focusing on one item, President Bush's approval rating has sunk to a range of 29-39% (curious, since other outlets are reporting less than 20%). In any case, I'd have to say that the Republicans and their policies have been thoroughly discredited, don't you think?
And if that's not enough, think about something one of our own members said a few days ago. "Voting for McCain is like voting for a third term of Bush."
America can't survive four more years of this.
