Alaskans Pay $780,600,000 for Iraq War
13 March 2007According to the National Priorities Project, Alaskans soon will have collectively paid $780,600,000 for the war in Iraq. This figure is based on a total cost of $456 billion. Around $378 billion has already been spent or allocated by Congress, and Congress will debate additional war spending. The National Priorities Project estimates around $78 billion will be for the Iraq War. The $456 billion number is the total if Congress were to approve the additional spending requested. I have a little trouble putting my arms around Alaska’s three-quarters of a billion dollars, and maybe you do too, so think of it this way:
* Every Alaskan household owns a $4,100 share in the Iraq War
* Every individual Alaskan owns a $1,500 share in the Iraq War
* Every Alaskan taxpayer owns a $3,400 share in the Iraq War
How about the town of Valdez? Residents of Valdez are into the Iraq War to the tune of $5,800,000. That’s still of lot of money for the average Alaskan to comprehend. Maybe this will help: $5,800,000 is enough money to pay for nearly 800 children in Valdez to attend a year of Head Start.
The good citizens of Anchorage, and I count myself among them, have collectively paid about $312,000,000 to fund their share of the war in Iraq. That is approaching a third of a billion dollars. Again, such a huge pile of cash is a bit difficult to grasp. Think of it this way… Anchorage’s share of the Iraq War could have paid for 15,133 four-year university scholarships.
And we must not forget the gold nugget of the north, Fairbanks. The share of war belonging to the hardy souls in Fairbanks is well over $26,000,000. That huge sum of money could have purchased nearly 16,000 health insurance policies for a full year for the uninsured children of Fairbanks, but instead the money insures the continuation of death in the Middle-East rather than the continuation of life in the interior.
Public policy choices. Life and death consequences.
ldw
powered by performancing firefox