Carlsbad: no, the half trillion is not a problem. That’s a pretty good estimate for the total cost of the war, and might even be a little low. $320 billion has been allocated as of June, spread over 3 years, so 100B/year. It gives a better picture to combine that supplementary spending with the Defense Dept budget, which is around $450 B (annually). Bear in mind the federal budget is over $2.5 trillion annually, so the combined 100B supplemental + 450B defense dept is about 20% of the federal budget, which is in turn about 20% of the US GDP.
That means that with or without the supplemental money, defense spending is about 4% of GDP – compared to GDP, direct war cost is rounding error.
Perry, I agree the pyschological effects of losing a war are bad. That’s why I try to convince people like you, PS, and carlsbadliving to not root for defeat.
