I have a number I want to mention….. $186,000,000 (source 1).

This is the estimate of what America is spending daily on Iraq. The administration claims this effort is for…. um, let me check what they are saying today… Weapons of Mass Destruction. Nope. Removing a dictator. Nope. Protecting America from Terrorism. Nope. Oh, yes, here’s today’s story: bringing democracy to Iraq. Yeah, right! The only way «Democracy» will remain in Iraq is if American troops stay with their guns drawn. They are drafting a «Democratic» constitution that strips rights from women (it will be worse for women than under Hussein) and as soon as our troups leave, I’m betting the whole place will collapse into anarchy. After America dumps $700 Billion into Iraq (and bare in mind that most of that money is borrowed from China) there will be two results: 1) the money is wasted because all that «improvement» in no way benefits us here in America, nor does it make us «safer from terrorists» and 2) our country will be bankrupt. Ah, what a winning plan Bush has: destroy our country to help «save» their country. As usual, there was no actual plan from Bush. Just a high-minded idea with no way to realize it.

I had a really bad vision last night while watching the news coverage of the stalled Hurricane relief in the south. It was «this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.» America was standing on a very very narrow ledge prior to Katrina. Our economy was fucked, propped up by Bush’s lies about «recovery,» the real estate bubble and low interest rates. For years, we have lived under crushing national debt (it’s nearly $8 Trillion today (source 2)), but went about our lives as if this is normal. You know what it’s like to live under personal debt: you cannot buy sushi every night or go to all the concerts you want to see. Yet Bush spends as if he’s got money to burn. He gives money back to the rich, then borrows it from China to fund his war! (The only place that gets cut is helping out Americans.)

What if this disaster pulls back the sheet and reveals massive national debt is not healthy for a country. IE: this disaster could be the thing to throw us into depression. $186,000,000 a day rushing out of our country into Iraq and the Federal Government can’t get water to citizens in our own country? What if this disaster pushes gas prices up to $4 a gallon; the extra million poor people realize they ain’t ever getting out of the hole they’ve dug into believing «the American Dream» (which these days translates to «live your life on credit card debt»); the real estate bubble bursts when people realize it’s absurd to pay $350,000 for a 2 bedroom condo in Boston or $500,000 for a 2 bedroom in Brooklyn; Alan Greenspan slithers off like the slug he is; and we’re left holding the bag. Wow, that’s not very cheery!

I went to the beach with Sasha a few days ago, the seas were really rough. We had fun, anyway. We’re just playing while the world comes tumbling down around us. We’re not smart enough to see it because we’d rather belief the snake-oil salesman/president who tells us «things are getting better.»

ugh.

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| in support of the numbers |

SOURCE 1:

The U.S. war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a recent report entitled «The Iraq Quagmire» from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus. Both liberal and anti-war organizations put the cost of operations in Iraq at $5.6 billion per month. This breaks down to almost $186 million a day.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/467

– According to current estimates, the cost of the Iraq War could exceed $700 billion. In current dollars, the Vietnam War cost U.S. taxpayers $600 billion.
– Operations costs in Iraq are estimated at $5.6 billion per month in 2005. By comparison, the average cost of U.S. operations in Vietnam over the eight-year war was $5.1 billion per month, adjusting for inflation.
– Staying in Iraq and Afghanistan at current levels would nearly double the projected federal budget deficit over the next decade.
– Broken down per person in the United States, the cost so far is $727, making the Iraq War the most expensive military effort in the last 60 years.

SOURCE 2:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.68 billion per day since September 30, 2004!

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Yet another perspective on (Why New Orleans is in deep water) Why New Orleans is in deep water
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509010009sep01,1,6491327.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Just plain political bad luck that, in June, Bush took his little ax and chopped $71.2 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, a 44 percent reduction. As was reported in New Orleans CityBusiness at the time, that meant «major hurricane and flood projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.»