ANALYSIS and OPINION:
U.S. defense spending is outrageous. At about $950 billion the United States was spending, before the Iran War, as much on defense as the next 9 nations combined. And those nations, include Russia and China. Initial estimates were that the war would cost between $1 billion and $2 billion per DAY. While the war has slowed some, at one point the Trump Administration was requesting $200 Billion for a 120 day period of fighting, a number which in July was reduced to $67 billion. We simply do not, however, trust Secretary Hegseth’s numbers when he mentions $39 billion as the cost of the Iran War. Looking at the cost of prior wars. The Pentagon’s estimate does not include all the costs of the war, particularly the potential expense of rebuilding U.S. military installations damaged by Iranian attacks. It also apparently does not include depleted missile inventories if we hadn’t invaded Iraq under George W. Bush, and had taken all the funds spent on that war and deposited them into the social security trust fund, it would be totally solvent and up to date. Right new the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the war is costing between $2 and $3 billion per MONTH ,but presumably this is during a relatively calm period of military operations. Suffice it to say, that when computing the cost of war, one has to really dig deep and make sure that one is comparing apples to apples and including all costs. This is very difficult to do. For example, what about Veteran’s health and disability benefits? A professor at Brown University (mentionined in our video), who considered such costs as well as the more typical costs associated with war estimated that the Iraq war cost the United STates $22 trillion dollars, and still counting.
However, regardless of the actual cost of war with Iran, if one looks at the enormous size of our military budget, the fact that our national debt is the largest it’s been since World War II, and that higher interest rates are likely in our future (if not a federal governmental default on repaying its debt obligations) and the equally huge amounts of money its going to take to make Social Security solvent again, and fund Medicare, Medicaid and other federal safety net programs, it becomes obvious that ratonal actors would conclude that federal financial resources need to be reallocated. With less going to defense and more to social security and federal safety net programs.
Republicans virtually always, want to spend more money on the military. They also have a tendency to be more hawkish and warlike than Democrats.. This is a major reason why Americans should vote for Democrats in the upcoming election. A vote for a Republican is a vote to watch Social Security become insolvent. If that happens millions of folks in their 70s, 80s and 90s face homelssnes, food shortage and no access to medical care.