$3.5 trillion dollars

[Earth_First]

Democrats forecast $3.5 trillion in war costs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iraq and Afghanistan wars could cost the United States $3.5 trillion through 2017 if "hidden costs" like higher oil prices, care for wounded soldiers and interest on borrowed money are counted, congressional Democrats said on Tuesday.

The estimate, in a report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee, is about $1 trillion higher than an October 24 analysis of war costs by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which mostly weighed direct war expenditures and borrowing costs of more than $700 billion.

The new report assumed the United States would withdraw about half of its present combat troops from Iraq by 2013 and maintain 75,000 soldiers there from 2013-2017.

The estimate was released as the House of Representatives again prepared to debate legislation setting timetables for ending U.S. military involvement in Iraq, now in its fifth year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071113/pl_nm/usa_war_costs_dc

I feel sick.

[Richard D]

1. Very few people . . .

. . . grasp how much a trillion is. Here's a little something I worked out:

at a dollar a second, you'd spend a million dollars in about 2 weeks.
You'd spend a billion dollars in 32 years.

And a trillion dollars in about 32,000 years.

So 3.5 trillion dollars is a dollar a second for over 112,000 years.

[Greyhound]

2. How about this one...

Each and every household in America currently owes half a million dollars, over and above whatever debt has been incurred through buying into our thoroughly corrupt system of usury, to pay for this coup.

And billionaires pay >1/10 of 1% of their real income while working people pay almost half.

It is the "I can't do math" tax.

[Richard D]

3. Astounding.

* really has destroyed this country.

[AikidoSoul]

4. It is going to make us a lot sicker over the next four decades

as we watch our quality of life for our children and grandchildren crumble to dust.