The Cost of War in Iraq

President Bush's war against Iraq has cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. The money to pay for the war has mostly come from cuts in spending on domestic programs. The unfortunate reality is that while Bush is willing to spend money to build schools and other infrastructure in Iraq, he has been much less giving when it comes to infrastructure needs here at home. With each budget Bush produces to Congress, needed domestic programs are cut further.

Cost to the American Taxpayer: The bill for Bush's war against Iraq stands at $126.1 billion as of July 20, 2004. It is estimated that an additional $25 billion will be spent by the end of 2004, making the total cost $151.1 billion. The estimated long-term cost of the war against Iraq for every U.S. household is $3,415.

What $151 Billion Buys at Home: If the $151 billion that Bush will have spent on his war against Iraq by the end of 2004 were spent domestically, it could have paid health care for 27 million uninsured Americans for an entire year or for Head Start for 20 million kids for an entire year. It could have funded global hunger efforts for 5 years or global AIDS for 13 years. The possibilities were endless.

Bush Cuts Veterans Funding to Create More Veterans: Bush?s 2005 budget fell $257 million below the amount the Congressional Budget Office estimated was needed simply to maintain the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) current spending. Further, his 2005 budget revealed his intention to cut $1.4 billion in funding for the VA from 2006-2009. Bush is also trying to add revenue to the Treasury by taxing veterans -- his 2005 budget increases pharmacy co-payments for Priority 7 and 8 veterans from $7 to $15.

Bush Cuts Unemployment Benefits to Pay for War: To pay for the Iraq War, Bush decided not to support and fund the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program to help workers who face long unemployment spells. TEUC provides 13 weeks of federally funded extended job benefits to the unemployed who have exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits. With 2.2 million jobs lost since 2001, the number of unemployed, who are not receiving any support, is at an all-time high since the inception of the assistance program.