Weighing the Costs Posted by Michael Cohen

Yesterday I tried to make the point that when it comes to weighing costs and benefits we, as a country, make choices all the time on domestic policy, but when it comes to fighting wars . . . not so much.

When it comes to the possibility that al Qaeda might be empowered by the lack of application of US military force . . money and attention has no limit. This is not to say that we shouldn't worry about al Qaeda, but the allocation of resources devoted to the threat from a desiccated terrorist organization, when actual Americans are dying or being hurt right here in this country, is shameful.

Well it's good to see David Obey, who has something to say about appropriations, making the case better than I have:

As an Appropriator I must ask, what will that policy cost and how will we pay for it? We are now in the middle of a fundamental debate over reforming our healthcare system. The President has indicated that it must cost less than $900 billion over ten years and be fully paid for. The Congressional Budget Office has had four committees twisting themselves into knots in order to fit healthcare reform into that limit. CBO is earnestly measuring the cost of each competing healthcare plan. Shouldn’t it be asked to do the same thing with respect to Afghanistan? If we add 40,000 troops and recognize the need for a sustained 10 year or longer commitment, as the architects of this plan tell us we do, the military costs alone would be over $800 billion. And unlike the demands that are being made of the healthcare alternatives that they be deficit neutral, we’ve heard no such demand with respect to Afghanistan. I would ask how much will this entire effort cost, when you add in civilian costs and costs in Pakistan? And how would that impact the budget?

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