War is expensive, and it’s about to get more so if the U.S. government escalates its military efforts in Afghanistan. [...]Over the past eight years, the nearly $1 trillion cost of the military’s efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan was essentially charged to the national credit card.
Will it be different this time?
There’s some chance lawmakers may opt to pay the bill as it comes due, rather than letting the balance and interest accrue. It’s not the first time the idea has come up, but it may be the first time the idea is given serious consideration.
A big part of the context for deciding whether and how to pay for a buildup are the growing deficits that have become a political and financial albatross. The country’s accumulated debt is expected to rise from $12 trillion today to $21 trillion by the end of 2019.
Some lawmakers are pushing for a war tax. Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, took part in the latest war council meeting. And Obama is expected to raise the cost issue in his Tuesday evening address at West Point.
Wow, another tax to pay for a war that isn’t accomplishing anything. That sucks. After all these years, where’s bin Laden?
Gee, if we didn’t have to pay for unnecessary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, then we’d be able to afford health insurance reform!
I say do it the Al Bundy way: just go on down to the basement and chip off what we need from our stash of gold bars.
It pays for itself…it’s the poppies, remember? Plus we get to tax the shit out of people on the other end for the war on drugs… It’s a win win for jobs saved or created.
I would suggest letting the corporate world pay for it..they got all our money anyway.
How will we pay? Like always, with a draft and the blood of our young.
Hey Obama supporters…how about that promise that the first thing Obama would do is bring the troops home? How is that working out?
Cue the crickets…….
Pay for it with Iraqi oil money. If that’s not enough invade Iran and use their oil money.
I dunno. Aren’t we supposed to “take that to the bank” or something?
Hand the country over to Russia.
Just tax GWB & VP-JC Team 100%,
and those that voted for the Iraqi war 80%,
and those that voted for the above into office,
and the pro-war lobbyist 50%,
and those that supported-fund the above.
Why not let CNN, Fox and other news-networks pay too.
They are the ones making a lot of profit with wars like these…
Here’s an idea: If you truly are not in favour of the government killing people in your name, then stop paying them to do so. People are dying, and your tax dollars make it all possible. So stop whining and watch the bodies stack up, or man up and choose to keep the money that you earn.
StoopidFlanders: apparently you’re a troll, and to be ignored.
Hello #13. I am presenting an alternative point of view; perhaps slightly more libertarian in this case. By all means, you are welcome to ignore me. I’m going to go out of my way and suppose your solution to Afghanistan is to just bury our collective heads in the sand and allow our glorious comrade-Bama to handle things, right? War is scary, we shouldn’t think about these things or offer different ideas on the matter, right?
Make Timothy Geithner pay income tax.
or
Charge the troops $10K each for their return flight from Afghanistan/Iraq/Whatever-shithole-we’ve-stuck-them-inistan.
Sell the Vatican. Pay for all the wars and money left over to pay for medical care for all the world.
Wouldn’t that be what Jesus would want?
Get protection money from countries we are protecting or, if they refuse, establish savings by withdrawing our man and basis. EU, Japan, S.Korea, Saudi Arabia,… just to name few.
For those claiming that we didn’t need these wars: please explain what estimated 100000 killed terrorists would be doing in mean time. I say at least 1% of them would found their way here… (As for deniers who’d say that wars are recruiting these people: which war recruited 9/11 bunch and others before that…? Maybe those wars US participated on Muslim side in Kuwait or Bosnia?)
#17. Jeez…another moron.
Casinos.
In addition to the Indian Casinos, we could open casinos designed to provided additional revenue for specific segments of government funding.
Where is the choice “add it to the cost of gasoline….”, oh wait, they did that already, it should be “add more to the cost of gasoline so that the poor get hurt more than the rich”.