Is the Iraq War a Financial Burden to the USA

As a percentage of GDP, the deficit has gone down. It isn't near record lows. In dollars(adjusted) it's near record highs. The debt, as a percentage, is over 60%.

A while back I posted about this subject. Since posted links don't seem to be followed, I'm not wasting the time to dig them up.

That said, Kenedy's cuts did help the economy and revenue. The bracket cut was at 90%. Force invovled wasn't 'trickle down'. People simply had more to spend, it's demand side action. Oh, after the the cut, taxes were still 70%.

Reagan's cuts weren't that drastic. Somewhere on line of 40% to 35%. A couple years after those intial cuts, Reagan raised taxes. Which is where the govt's increased revenue came from.

I guess I wasn't clear, but yes, the Iraq 'war' is a burden on the US. Finicial and otherwise.

 

Chipping in would help, but asking them to pay us back would be a mistake. It could lead to the situations in debt ridden African countries and Germany after WWI. Those didn't lead to positive things.

 

"asking them to pay us back would be a mistake"

Asking the Iraqis to pay us? What for, destroying the country and killing 650,000 Iraqi's? With friends like us, they don't need enemies.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 18 2006, 09:50 AM) [snapback]334425[/snapback]</div>

So far well over $300,000,000,000 because we were misled into thinking Iraq had something to do with it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 18 2006, 07:59 AM) [snapback]334375[/snapback]</div>

Wars are fought primarily for economic reasons. I don't think that's any big surprise.

If there wasn't money to be made, why for goodness sake would everyone be so eager to fight all the time?

Look at the United States. Right now. That's what we're doing; fighting for selfish economic interests under the guise of moral and societal concerns. All the while energizing the military industrial complex (which itself represents a poor way to funnel dollars directly back into our economy -- not talking about technology spinoff from guns to butter).

That's why the war rings so hollow, and why it's fragmented the people to such a great degree. Because we're exchanging the lives of our proud, brave soldiers for petty economic gain. And we're not even honest enough to admit it to ourselves!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 17 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]334052[/snapback]</div>

My thoughts - yes
My reasons - It's gotten us back into deficit spending, and I remember the effect of the Viet Nam war on the economy.
Facts behind my reasons - If I cited a bunch of facts, I'm sure you would question the accuracy of my 'facts' and jump up and down on any if the 'facts' where you had a different version of the 'fact'. I'd probably do the same in return. It's not likely either of us would sway the other's opinion.

So I'm just registering my opinion here!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Oct 18 2006, 05:47 PM) [snapback]334747[/snapback]</div>

A minor correction here. WE weren't mislead into thinking Iraq had something to do with it, just people like dbermanmd were.

And the answer to the question is an emphatic yes. The cost of the war is $1000 for every person in the US so far. That comes to $12,000 for my immediate family which is a huge burden. If dbermanmd doesn't think its a burden, he can send me a check.

 

Let me ask you a question. If you are such a big fan of the war, why have you not enlisted? The army has recently lowered requirements and expanded the age range, they have an M-16 waiting for you now.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 19 2006, 09:12 AM) [snapback]334981[/snapback]</div>

runaway inflation in the 70's and 80's.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 18 2006, 06:59 AM) [snapback]334353[/snapback]</div>

I guesss that depends on who you mean by "the USA".
If by "USA" you mean corporate USA, then no.
Halliburton, oil companies, defense contractors, large corporations, and war profiteers will certainly reap large financial benefits, not burdens, from the continuation of this tragic and misguided war.
However, if by "USA" you mean the large number of middle and lower class American families surviving paycheck to paycheck without the benefit of obscene CEO salaries, fat stock portfolios, etc., then yes.
While I cannot provide the specific facts you request to support my assertion, I do know that money spent on the war cannot be spent on health care, education, environment, and non-military technology. Any of these things merit tax dollars, would improve our lives, and would not motivate terrorists to kill us. IMHO every dollar spent destroying/rebuilding Iraq in the name of keeping America safe is a shameful lost opportunity.
Reagan style "trickle-down" economics is a myth. The Iraq war, like the Savings and Loan Crises of the 1980's, will result in another huge shift of wealth from average taxpayers to the corrupt fat cats who are pulling Bush's puppet strings. <_<

 

A reasonable question. I suppose I would approach it like this:

Does it cost more to be at war than at peace?

If so, roughly how much more?

If the amount is modest, something we can pay off promptly, then I would be willing to shrug it off and answer "no".

If the amount is significant, if we have to forgo other activities, if we cannot pay the bill promptly, then I would start considering a "yes" answer.

Another consideration would be if we are getting anything in return for all this effort. If we had a fair chance of getting something valuable, I would be willing to consider it an investment rather than a burden. If we seemed to be creating a long term problem or liability, I would again swerve towards "burden"

 

Why do you people keep buying into this guy's questions like he was an intellectual seeking truth: some sort of reasonable human being to whom logic was a given? He posits everything to come out one way and filters his responses so that marginal responses get jumped on while honest and correct answers are completely ignored.

Don't you ever get tired of being played for a sucker buy this nut? Have you ever heard him say, "Hey, that was a good idea and you got me to re-thinking my last statement!"? Don't hold your breath. He is all right, all the time.

As is my wont, I'll repeat his words about nuking California to show his acute mental prowess:

“and if noko could take out california or parts of it - so be it - they never wanted money spent on star wars or related technologies - they never wanted a strong military deterence - ironic they are first in noko's nuclear sights - ironic how they must be feeling in berkeley tonight - must be resting comfortably

seriously, we can understand why noko launches a nuke at us and takes out part of california - if they do i hope we dont do anything silly in return like strike back and make any more people mad at us or give reason to those to attack us again. i would just offer a peace settlement - give him san fran or la in return for a peace treatyâ€

From the collected works of that great American humorist
David Berman, M.D.

("noko" is North Korea in his rant.)

This is the category of "thinker" that you are jousting with. As it says over the gate of hell:
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

Remember the old joke about the VP which goes:
"How do you know Cheney is lying?"

"His lips are moving."
So is it here. Your time is better spent watching "I Love Lucy" re-runs.

When you stop taking him seriously, he will fade back into the dark night from which he sprung.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 19 2006, 10:14 AM) [snapback]335007[/snapback]</div>

The Wage and Price freeze imposed by Nixon in 1969 were about inflation - they didn't work, because we were still deficit spending, so they became Gerald Ford's problem in 1974. The war ended, Carter got elected, but we'd gotten 'hooked' on the deficit spending, It got OUTRAGEOUSLY out of hand by then. Greenspan helped a LOT, but Reagan's first 'experimental economics' models were built on a Keynesian assumption that there was a 'multiplier' effect for ANY money put into the economy. (I remember being taught in my undergrad economics course that if the government spent $1 on sorting paperclips, the multiplier effect will cause more than $1's worth of benefit to the economy - that's when I decided that Milton Friedman right - there's no such thing as a free lunch - and went to the University of Chicago for grad schoool).

It took a very long time to get out of deficit spending - well into the 90's.

 

Is there a duck in here? I think I just heard a quack.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 20 2006, 04:23 AM) [snapback]335452[/snapback]</div>

Talk about understatement!

My point to the pointless: I don't care about your subject du jour. If you said that the Sun rose in the east, I'd seriously question my knowledge base for some hidden flaw in what I deeply believe. I rant and rave? I just quoted you precisely in my earlier post. You define rant and rave. I don't have to back up anything: you convict yourself every time you speak. If you had a lawyer here, he'd wisely tell you, "Keep your mouth shut."

My proposition is that you are beyond the pale. All I need do is quote you and the field is bountiful. I just selected one moment of your unguarded madness for continued exposure: "Destroy California!" You picked the wrong call to arms. I am a strident believer in a "Free California." (Even Mississippi!) You are the broken clock that is right twice a day. Or the broken record that plays the same refrain endlessly. If the pot looks cracked and doesn't hold water, it is a crackpot.

I've focused on you as the prototype of what is wrong with the American soul, that loss of goodness and humanity that has led to the last six years of free fall into the abyss of greed and power-lust we are in: the jack-booted image America presents to the rest of the world that makes me feel ashamed. To paraphrase Keith Olberman, you get my vote for "The Worst Person on PriusChat."

This is the sort of mind that put Bush et al into power. Rather than shotgun all over the place, you are where I take my stand. I don't care about any of your "ideas." Life is too short. You are the face I see on my government-mandated "Big Brother" poster, soon to be issued to us all. "War is Peace!" "Bankruptcy is Richness!" Until one of the moderators tells me to knock it off, their right, I remain, your devoted servant.

And so it goes.....