Next Year's War Costs Estimated at $170 Billion
So, Mr. Levin pressed, “That would be a total then of $685 billion” in Pentagon spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. “Does that sound right?”
Spending for the wars we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are over and above the $515 Billion Pentagon Budget. These expenditures are a prime cause of our deficit and add to our $9 Trillion debt, yet Republicans running for President continue to call for tax and spending cuts.
Here's a link to the article on this topic from the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/washington/06cnd-military.html?th&emc=th
Spending for the wars we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are over and above the $515 Billion Pentagon Budget. These expenditures are a prime cause of our deficit and add to our $9 Trillion debt, yet Republicans running for President continue to call for tax and spending cuts.
Here's a link to the article on this topic from the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/washington/06cnd-military.html?th&emc=th
Posted by Richard Spomer at 2/10/2008 2:04 AM and is filed under as questions being sought?
So Mr. Larry Bradley, If you could help me to understand and get a grasp of this maddening situation in which we live I would gratefully appreciate it?
If your calculations were accurate from the start you would find, first off there is interest which needs to be added on that amount of money, and would it in fact total to over just over $726,340,000,000 Billion for one fiscal year alone. That is at 6% which is well with in the markets that other countries would be expecting for return on the dollar.
It's no wonder the US is in market trouble around the globe isn't?
Does any one see any responsible end to this insanity?
However with a 9,000,000,000,000.00 what is the rate in which interest is set at, because it is making more money every second in existence?
Reply to this
Mr. Spomer,
Thanks for your post. Glad to get a comment from someone else who "gets it" financially.
When I make public appearances I point out that if we were to divide the $9 Trillion debt equally among the over 300 Million Americans, then we would owe $30,000 each. That would mean a family of four would owe $120,000. Were that family to take on paying that back as a second mortgage, they would owe $500 a month (not counting interest) for 20 years. This in the face of the fact that the median income is @ $45K a year. That means someone who is bringing home $3200-3500 a month paying $500 out of their existing budget.
Then you read David Cay Johnston's books (Perfectly Legal and Free Lunch) and find out how a gutted IRS is unable to collect literally millions in legitimately owed taxes.
As to how to end this insanity--Financial ignorance is rampant in this country. Part of the difficulty in addressing this is the potential for panic among the general population. Instead of beefing up the IRS to close the gap, we have one Presidential candidate who has managed to survive with part of his platform being the abolition of the IRS and the institution of the so-called "Fair Tax".
The sooner we are able to extricate ourselves from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the better off we will be. The difficulty in that is doing so in a way that does not lead to even worse problems in the future. One of the keys to achieving that is to make ourselves energy independence.
Education, therefore, is key to overcoming this. I encourage you to direct other people to this site and some of the resources I advocate. Those resources include Mr. Johnston's books, Dave Ramsey's books, and The Concord Coalition.
Those are some of my thoughts. I could go on for a longer period of time, but that's a start. I would be interested in your own thoughts on what is needed for a "responsible end to this insanity".
Larry
Reply to this