The Cost of WAR

[Tref]

I don't get it. Why are we so eager to argue against paying for somebody else's health but we have no problem with paying for their death?

Click here to see how much YOU (http://costofwar.com/) pay for war.

[JWBear]

I don't get it. Why are we so eager to argue against paying for somebody else's health but we have no problem with paying for their death?

Click here to see how much YOU (http://costofwar.com/) pay for war.

This is scary and depressing. Every American should see this!

[Capt Jack]

who said we have no problem paying for it? its just in this particular case, no one asked us first. :mad:

[scaeagles]

Yawn. I pay for a whole bunch of things with my taxes that I don't want to.

[€uroMeinke]

Yeah this is one of those facts that makes me wonder why the hell we are there.

If we won the cold war by bankrupting the Soviet Union through the costly arms race - I wonder if the terrorists are now doing the same to us. No need to fly planes into buildings, Uncle Sam will just keep funneling bodies and dollars into the battlefield where they can be wasted at their leisure.

At least if we were cold and imperialistic about our intentions we could just seize the oil fields and let the populace be damned until we were through with them.

Bah

[wendybeth]

Yawn. I pay for a whole bunch of things with my taxes that I don't want to.

Funny- I don't see you yawn quite so much when the subject is welfare and the like. ;)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Yawn. I pay for a whole bunch of things with my taxes that I don't want to.But do they involve war? Seeing that ticker really brings it home. I'm just as mad about the war on drugs, which does some pretty horrible things too. Just did a quick search - Here's another clock. (http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm)

In both cases, you know that there's some good being done with the cash - but much of it is for something I deem pretty stupid and horrible. Such is life...

[Tref]

I'm just as mad about the war on drugs, which does some pretty horrible things too. Just did a quick search - Here's another clock. (http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm)


Here is another clock (http://www.deathclock.com/) that really pisses me off. All I can say is, the Pope better have his sh*t together cause I am not looking forward to the alternative.

[scaeagles]

In both cases, you know that there's some good being done with the cash - but much of it is for something I deem pretty stupid and horrible. Such is life...

Exactly. Such is government.

[€uroMeinke]

Anarchy Now!

[Not Afraid]

Can we have anarchy and still get arts funding?

[CoasterMatt]

Mr. Bill for President!

Vote Out The Blockheads!

[Alex]

Can we have anarchy and still get arts funding?

Yes, but probably not the arts funding you'd want. When Americans collectively decide to sponsor the arts, what you get is The Transformers.

I don't object to single payer government run health care because of the cost. I would still object to it if it turned out it would cost 1/10th what we collectively pay for it. I object to the form.

I supported the war in Iraq because of a threat I believed was significant enough to warrant action. That threat, it turns out, was not real. Knowing what I know now, I would of course not have supported the war then. But I didn't know it then.

So, we're in a war and I do not think it has been well managed and this has caused an inflation in the cost but it is a mess that needs to be dealt with. At this point I don't know to what degree the involvement needs to be military but I also don't think it is a clear but case where we should just wipe our hands and move on. Even if it is because of us that it is so, Iraq is now a major concentration for Al Qaeda and that shouldn't be ignored while we move our troops back to Kuwait and let the Sunnis and Shia blow each other up.

On the other hand, I don't think the war has cost us enough. We aren't really asked to sacrifice anything (and in the grand scheme of things $100 billion per year isn't a significant drain on our economy). There was an article about a month ago about a new Humvee design that has reduced IED fatalities to near zero (as of the article nobody had been killed in one don't know if that has changed in the last month) and they are getting them into combat zones as fast as possible but they can only roll off the manufacturer's line so quickly. I can't help but think in an earlier time when our leaders were inclined to ask sacrifice of the citizenry that the president or secretar of defense or someone would have been on TV and radio saying "we need 100,000 of these things in two months so we ask for America's help in making sure we get them."

It is bizarre to me that during World War II a single shipyard in Vancouver, Washington, could turn out an entire ship every day but we can't get more than 100 Humvees a week (or whatever the numbers) were because we must go on as if life is normal.

But that is all independent of the healthcare issue, so far as I'm concerned. With the money spent in Iraq you could also give every American family a new fuel efficient hybrid vehicle but that doesn't necessarily make it a good idea.

[JWBear]

Here is another clock (http://www.deathclock.com/) that really pisses me off. All I can say is, the Pope better have his sh*t together cause I am not looking forward to the alternative.

Hey! That says I only have 5 years to go! :(

[mousepod]

I've got 33 years on that one... I guess I can er, live with that.

[wendybeth]

It says I have another 50 to go.

Yeah, right.:rolleyes:

[€uroMeinke]

I get 36 years

[wendybeth]

Hah! I might make that DL Centennial yet!

[Not Afraid]

60 years! No way!

[€uroMeinke]

60 years! No way!

Hmmm - maybe I ought to up the 401(k)

[Not Afraid]

Yeah. I think so.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Hmmm - maybe I ought to up the 401(k)
You aren't maxing it out? For shame.

[Not Afraid]

My grandfather died at 98. That is the ONLY member of my family to live past 80. I doubt, given my history, that I will live a long time.

[Ghoulish Delight]

There's a lot of longevity in my family...unfortunately they're all women.

[€uroMeinke]

You aren't maxing it out? For shame.

Nah, I'm doing that with my credit cards - spend now while I can enjoy it ;)

[Prudence]

I only got 5 years on that clock. :( Guess I won't have to worry about paying back my student loans after all.

[Morrigoon]

I get until April 18th, 2053. On a site bemoaning the dangers of being overweight :rolleyes:

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Yeah, they're leaning on the BMI. They gave me 70 more years.

[Snowflake]

January 17, 2047 for me.

I don't believe it!

[Alex]

Sadly, I died in 2004.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Sadly, I died in 2004.

The reports of your death have been greatly exagerated.

[Alex]

No, I've confirmed them.