Monumental Costs
Tragically, the human cost of the war in Iraq has reached 3,002 exceptionally brave young Americans. The death toll during the month of December was 116, which was the deadliest month of 2006. As the human cost climbs, the Bush regime has been cynically hiding the monumental financial costs, that will eventually fall on the middle class.
The Iraq war is costing the American taxpayer $8 billion a month, according to congressional researchers. Nevertheless, the Pentagon is preparing another $100 billion supplemental spending bill to pay for the war.
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and Linda Bilmes estimated that the "true costs" of the war will eventually be more than $1 trillion, and possibly more than $2 trillion. Their study includes both direct and indirect costs of the war, which our nation will have to shoulder for generations.
Democrats must scrutinize the figures of the cost of this war more closely, because the Bush regime has become very skilled at obscuring the true costs by not including war expenses in the regular budget.
The cost of this war is fueling the national debt. Along with entitlement spending, it is creating a growing financial burden on middle class families. In 2006, the federal government added another $248 billion to the federal debt.
Forty percent of the federal budget are for items in the entitlement category. Twenty percent of the budget goes for Social Security, plus another twenty percent for Medicare and Medicaid. In the must pay category are payments on our federal debt, which make up seven percent. The amount our government spends paying off the interest on our federal debt is seven times greater than what we spend on education.
Bush will present a budget, which will include entitlements, but only for the next five years. The big crunch on Social Security and Medicare comes after that, as the baby boom generation retires medical costs will rise dramatically. Tough choices are ahead that will affect most middle class families, because it will mean future tax increases or cuts in Medicare and Social Security services.
The Iraq war is costing the American taxpayer $8 billion a month, according to congressional researchers. Nevertheless, the Pentagon is preparing another $100 billion supplemental spending bill to pay for the war.
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and Linda Bilmes estimated that the "true costs" of the war will eventually be more than $1 trillion, and possibly more than $2 trillion. Their study includes both direct and indirect costs of the war, which our nation will have to shoulder for generations.
Democrats must scrutinize the figures of the cost of this war more closely, because the Bush regime has become very skilled at obscuring the true costs by not including war expenses in the regular budget.
The cost of this war is fueling the national debt. Along with entitlement spending, it is creating a growing financial burden on middle class families. In 2006, the federal government added another $248 billion to the federal debt.
Forty percent of the federal budget are for items in the entitlement category. Twenty percent of the budget goes for Social Security, plus another twenty percent for Medicare and Medicaid. In the must pay category are payments on our federal debt, which make up seven percent. The amount our government spends paying off the interest on our federal debt is seven times greater than what we spend on education.
Bush will present a budget, which will include entitlements, but only for the next five years. The big crunch on Social Security and Medicare comes after that, as the baby boom generation retires medical costs will rise dramatically. Tough choices are ahead that will affect most middle class families, because it will mean future tax increases or cuts in Medicare and Social Security services.
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