War Spending Strategy: Soak the Grandkids

10% surcharge could cover next year's bill: Walter Pincus

(NEWSER) - With the debt supercommittee looking to slash the deficit, some in Washington are raising an old question, notes Walter Pincus in the Washington Post : What about a tax on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? “These wars ought to be paid for and not put on a credit card so that our kids will have to pay for this in the future,” Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern tells him in an interview. “It’s morally wrong for members [of Congress] to call for support of our soldiers and then not ask the rest of us to pay for it.” More»

Republicans abstain in protest, leading to surprise defeat

(NEWSER) - The House today shot down a $162.5 billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year after a surprise tactic by angry Republicans, the Washington Post reports. The bill failed by a vote of 148-141 after 132 members of the GOP abstained. By doing so, they formed an unusual coalition with a group of anti-war Democrats. The vote doesn't mean the wars won't be funded, however—the bill will be revived in the Senate next week. More»

Democrats renew insistence on stick to accompany carrot

(NEWSER) - In an abrupt about-face, President Bush said today he will negotiate with Congress about including benchmarks for the Iraqi government in war-spending legislation. With discontent mounting on both sides of the aisle, he emerged from a Pentagon briefing on Iraq and Afghanistan and said, "It makes sense to have benchmarks as part of our discussion." More»

(NEWSER) - With Congress and the president now officially at war over Iraq, all parties scrambled yesterday to gear up for the coming firefight. The President promised to veto the spending bill with troop withdrawal deadlines attached, seeming to relish the fight ahead. Tthe newly aggressive and unified Democrats, notes the New York Times, seemed surprised at their own success at pushing for an exit strategy after years of wishy-washiness. More»

Action in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan approaching cost of WWII: study

(NEWSER) - The real cost of American military action in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan dwarfs the $1.3 trillion appropriated on Capitol Hill, according to a study by Brown University's nonpartisan Eisenhower Research Project. The study estimates that the war bills already paid or obligated to be paid are at least $3.2 trillion and probably closer to $4 trillion, with the bulk of the spending buried in a variety of budgets and invisible to taxpayers, reports Reuters . More»