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The Dems Say the War is Too Expensive. But Is It, Really?

Jimmie | November 14, 2007 | Comments (0)

Okay, let’s say the Democrats are right when they say that Iraq could cost a total of 3.5 trillion dollars all the way to 2017. That figure is under dispute because it includes some pretty shady “hidden costs” like future care of injured vets, unstable oil markets, undercoating, and extended warranty but let’s take the whole thing as true.

So what?

Since when did we start nickel and diming people freed from tyranny in dollars and cents? At what point did we decide that bucks beat free people?

Yeesh, the very thought that we couldn’t be bothered to take a chance to help 24 million people or so have lives they never even dreamed they could have because it might cost us real money is appalling. And when you consider that the chance of freedom we give now could be enjoyed not just by those who live there now, but by their children and their children’s’ children, well, the very notion that we’d play skinflint borders on the monstrously selfish.

But is that $3.5 trillion as big a figure as it seems? It’s easy to say it’s a ton of money because, all by itself, it is. But compared to the overall wealth of this nation, is it really as much as it seems? Read on after the jump. You might be surprised.

In 2006, our total Gross Domestic Product was right around $13 trillion, which means that the Dems’ figure clock in at a bit under a quarter of all the wealth produced here last year. That’s a pretty hefty load, but remember, the Dems’ big number reaches all the way from this year until 2017. So lets project it out.

I’ll assume that our GDP won’t change at all in the next ten years. Of course it will, but I’m terrible at math and figuring out the roughly 3-ish percent every year is more math than I care to do. In the end, I don’t think it’ll matter for the purposes of demonstrating the Chuck Schumer is, again, a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

But back to the numbers. Over ten years, our GDP would be about $130 trillion of which $3.5 trillion would be…2.7 percent. That’s a smaller chunk of the GDP than is currently taken by Social Security and “Means Tested Entitlements” (See Chart 31). Indeed, it is less than our regular defense spending and only slightly more than we’re paying for Medicare.

In other words, we’re fighting a hot war not only against a world confederation of Islamists , directly aided by two neighboring nations and funded by many, many more, and we’re doing for, on average, almost exactly as much as we’re spending on Medicare.

Remember that the next time you see the sad puppydog faces of Chuck Schumer and harry Reid telling you how much we’re “wasting” as we fight our enemies and give a few million folks the chance to live the same free life you’re living right now. Remember it and shame them for trying to con you into surrendering along with them.