Iraq Fiscal Responsibility |
Staying and Paying in Iraq
We are spending $8 billion a month in Iraq. That equates to 2 billion dollars a week, or 267 million dollars a day, or 11 million dollars AN HOUR.
The following are some comparisons between what we are spending in Iraq, and what those funds could be use for instead.
NATIONAL SECURITY
$33.1 billion/yr
(4 months in Iraq)
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Department of Homeland Security FY 07 budget
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$10 billion (1-time)
(5 weeks in Iraq)
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Equipping commercial airliners with defenses against shoulder fired missiles
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$8.6 billion/7 years
(one month in Iraq)
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Shortage of international aid needed to rebuild Afghanistan
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$5.2 billion (1-time)
(3 weeks in Iraq)
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Estimated need for capital improvements to secure public transportation system (trains, subways, buses)
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$1.5 billion/year
(5 days in Iraq)
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Radiation detectors needed at all US ports (rejected due to cost)
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$1.4 billion/ year
(5 days in Iraq)
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Double the COPS (community police grants) program
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$800 million/year
(72 hours in Iraq)
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Public transportation personnel training and technical support
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$700 million/year
(2 days in Iraq)
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100% screening of all air cargo - rejected because of cost (1/4 of domestic shipping and 1/2 of international shipping is done on passenger planes)
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$350 million (1-time)
(1.2 days in Iraq)
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Make emergency radio systems interoperable (recommended after 9/11 but hasn't happened yet)
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$500 million/year
(2 days in Iraq)
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Double the firefighters grant program
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$94 million/year
(8-1/2 hours in Iraq)
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Restore cuts to cities hit on 9/11 in Homeland Security budget
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HEALTH CARE/VETERANS
$36 billion/5 years
(4-1/2 months in Iraq)
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Reduction for Medicare spending in President's FY 07 budget
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$5 billion/5 years
(2-1/2 weeks in Iraq)
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Cut in Medicaid in President's FY 2007 budget
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$2.5 billion/5 years
(9 days in Iraq)
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VA health care premium increases in this year's budget. Premiums will double and triple and drug co-payments will increase, costing our military retirees $2.4 billion over 5 years
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$100 million
(9 hours in Iraq)
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Additional funding recommended for mental health research for Veterans
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$48 million
(half a day in Iraq)
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Medical and prosthetic research for Veterans
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$65 million/yr
(6 hours in Iraq)
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National Institutes of Health research funding cuts in this year's budget (scientists are leaving the field of health research because funding has been cut so severely)
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$15 billion/yr
(1-1/2 weeks in Iraq)
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Provide health insurance to 9 million children with no health insurance
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$118 million/yr
(12 hours in Iraq)
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The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 elderly people - eliminated in the President's budget
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EDUCATION
$3.4 billion/yr
(13 days in Iraq)
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Cut in education budget in President's FY 07 budget from FY 06 funding level (over 40 programs including drug-free schools, federal support for the arts,
technology and parent-resource centers).
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$664 million/yr
(2-1/2 days in Iraq)
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Perkins Loan program cut in President's FY 07 budget (would help 463,000 low-income students attend college)
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$99 million/yr
(9 hours in Iraq)
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Even Start (eliminated in President's budget)
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ENVIRONMENT/INFRASTRUCTURE
$300 million
(1 day, 3 hours in Iraq)
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President's cut to EPA budget in FY 2007
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$253 billion/30 years
(2 years in Iraq)
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Clean up contaminated sites in US (Up to 350,000 contaminated sites will require cleanup over the next 30 years according to a report released by the EPA.)
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$9.11 billion
(1 month, 10 days in Iraq)
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National Park Service maintenance backlog
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$6 billion
(3 weeks in Iraq)
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Forest Service maintenance backlog
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$2 billion
(2 weeks in Iraq)
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Fish and Wildlife Service maintenance backlog
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$47.2 billion/yr
(6 months in Iraq)
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Miscellaneous user fees throughout government imposed by President's budget on taxpayers
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$1.7 billion/yr
(1 week in Iraq)
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Grants to states cut in 2007 budget
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$15 million/yr
(1.3 hours in Iraq)
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Double the Save America's Treasures program (cut in half from last year's budget)
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DEFENSE
$6 billion
(3 weeks in Iraq)
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Double the number of Navy ships we are buying in the 2007 bill -
from 6 ships to 12.
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$8 billion
(1 month in Iraq)
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Double the number of total Air Force aircraft we are buying in this bill. That's right - we could double the number of F-22s, Joint Strike Fighters, C-130's, Global Hawks and Predators we are buying. Or, we could
double the number of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft we are buying - F-18s, V-22s, KC-130Js, and so on.
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Information prepared by the office of Rep. John Murtha.
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