The literal cost of war

As Barack Obama prepares to enter the Presidency, he will be inheriting the myriad problems created over the past eight years. Some of which are obviously the various military conflicts we are fighting.

And the cost.

...the Pentagon’s budget, including spending on the two wars, reached $685 billion in 2008. That is an increase of 85 percent in real dollars since 2000 and nearly equal to all of the rest of the world’s defense budgets combined.

$685 billion dollars. I have no idea how many people that would feed, clothe, and shelter...but it's got to be a lot. And that would be a far better way to spend the money than shipping young people overseas to kill other people. Or be killed by them.

The War Resisters League's produces a famous "pie chart" flyer which analyzes Bush's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. It is available for view or download in PDF format.





It shows that 54% of the U.S. budget goes to the military. Over half. It shouldn't be surprising that the economy is crashing when the government's priorities are like that.

If you disagree with this kind of spending, you might be interested in learning about The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund.

The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund (NCPTF), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit organization which advocates for passage of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill (currently H.R. 1921). When enacted, this law will restore the rights of citizens whose conscience does not permit physical or financial participation in all war. Federal taxes of designated conscientious objectors will be placed in a non-military trust fund, enabling these citizens to be free from spiritual bondage, increasing federal revenue, and restoring the balance of government between collective security and non-interference in an individual's free exercise of belief.

I don't know about you, but I am tired of paying for a war that I never agreed with in the first place.