The Cost of War

I often wonder why...if the GOP doesn't like big government spending, they continue to support the huge investment in war? Then I ran across HR 5353, better know as 'The War is Making You Poor Act'. It's legislation that would make the first $35,000 American's make income tax free!

The catch is the savings require the militry to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan out of it's current budget without using supplementary funds (additional money). That might mean tightening their belt, eliminating poor and wasteful spending but seems like they already have a disapportionate piece of the Ameircan budget (somewhere around a quarter to half depending on if you fact the magical 'additional funding'?)

Source: http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm 

Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion

MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion

NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion


Of course..this is not only about the money costs: "The U.S. military marked a grim milestone in Afghanistan this year with more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed there since October 2001. Roadside bombings are on the rise, causing double the number of fatalities in 2009 that they did in 2008. And 2010 is on track to be even worse by that measure." USNews