The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree

THAT WAS FUN. Just got done spending $3 trillion. Try it yourself - it's a lot harder than you might think. Honestly, it would have been a whole lot easier just to follow the president's example and blow it all on one illegal occupation of Iraq.

$3 trillion is the projected cost of the Iraq War according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes. That's a whole lot of zeros, but what does it really amount to? How many homes would it buy for Americans who've fallen victim to the subprime meltdown? How many debts would it pay off for developing nations? For that matter, how many of those new Mac Air laptops would it buy me? As it turns out, one whole hell of a lot of all of those things combined.

Try it yourself: http://3trillion.org

What a colossal waste of money. What a tragedy of lost opportunities. Where is all this money going? KBR, Halliburton and the other war profiteers have made out like bandits in Iraq, while taxpayers and their own workers get screwed. KBR enjoys contracts worth $16 billion, and still avoids paying Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies in the Cayman Islands.

In the Bush Administration's defense, of course, they had no idea it would cost this much when they embarked on their insane crusade (in fact, they still don't) Along with cheering Iraqis, arsenals of WMDs, and leprechauns and unicorns, the White House expected to be presenting the American people with a much, much smaller bill for its services. Back in 2003, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld (remember him?) was fond of quoting the projected cost at $50 billion.

You may recall that about six years ago, Bush's own chief economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, was pushed out of the White House for suggesting that the war could cost up to a trifling $200 billion - still $2.8 trillion off the mark. "Baloney" was how Rumsfeld characterized Lindsey's estimate, before quoting the $50 billion figure.

With Rumsfeld gone, one would hope to see a little more honest accounting out of the Defense Department. So what does The Pentagon have to say about Stiglitz's sobering calculation? That number "seems way out of the ballpark to me," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

Could $3 trillion cover the cost of a worthwhile accountant at the DoD? Apparently that's the only thing it can't afford.

Comments

[yatkat]

HuffPost's Pick

Mr. Cusack;

Although I expect my voice to be lost in the din, I write to ask a question that I hope you"ll answer with as much drive, determination, and fervor that I"ve seen in your previous blogs. But first, a few facts about me so you know I ask not with malice, but with a genuine need for understanding.

I'm a decorated (female) war veteran who served in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and completed a 2-year activation after 9/11. Needless to say, I don't equate patriotism with flag pins. I'm an independent thinker and voter with beliefs that run the gamut from pro-choice to pro-gun ownership. Most importantly, I believe heart and soul that no one should be labeled disloyal because s/he raises a dissonant voice. If anything, I admire those with the guts to stand up and speak in the face of adversity.

Enough about me, let"s talk about you. You offer an interesting commentary in your blog. Your writing is articulate and rousing and it"s obvious why you have found a supportive audience in this forum. Personally, I am not persuaded, which is bothersome since your writing style makes me wish I were. You seem to offer lots of information, facts, and opinions, but no real suggestion of how we can collectively move forward and correct the problem. My question: Where do you propose we go from here?

All the best,
Kathy

[mors]

Bravely fighting the war? What, exactly, does that mean? Actions speak so much louder than mere words. In the '60's MILLIONS of KIDS stood up to authority, got their heads banged, were mocked, knocked down and kept getting up to 'fight the war' and, I might add, march for civil rights in this racially devisive country. We put our lives on the line and some of us lost. Think Kent State.

If a coalition of hollywood movie stars who are 'fighting the war' had gone to Iraq, Iraq would never have been blown to bits. After all, it is entertainment (oh, and shopping) that keeps the masses pliable. That's all we seem to do in this country: be sublimed and distracted by our chosen entertainment. I submit that hollywood, consciously or not, works to uphold cannibalistic capitalism and now, a fascist government by entertaining the masses in the most inane and mindless way. Efforts such as War, Inc. should have hit the scene years ago. As it stands now, globally, all offers of genuine thinking material are too little, too late.

Get ye to the high places and plant seed. It's over. America is gone. You can't go home again.

Mors, an ordinary radical

[kellygrrrl]

Crimes Against Humanity

Criminal and Civil suits need to be filed against these Terrorists!
and YES, we will be asking for PUNITIVE DAMAGES and RESTITUTION!!!!!!

[bobo209]

There is direct evidence that President George W. Bush did not honorably lead this nation, but deliberately misled it into a war he wanted. Bush and his administration knowingly lied to Congress and to the American public " lies that have cost the lives of more than 4,000 young American soldiers and close to $3 trillion.

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder and war crimes against Humanity on the advice of zionist war lords must be tried for treason against us constitution.

The 9/11 Lie

The Bush administration put undue pressure on U.S. intelligence agencies to provide it with conclusions that would help them in their quest for war. Bush"s former counterterrorism chief, Richard Clarke, said that on September 12, 2001, one day after 9/11, "The President in a very intimidating way left us " me and my staff " with the clear indication that he wanted us to come back with the word that there was an Iraqi hand behind 9/11."

Bush said on October 7, 2002, "We know that Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy " the United States of America. We know that Iraq and Al Qaeda have had high level contacts that go back a decade," and that "Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gasses." Of Hussein, he said on November 1, 2002, "We know he"s got ties with Al Qaeda."

[PA]

We will be having to forgive you, Johnny, m"dear, for thinking that Iraq has leprechauns. Tis the Irish in you, to be sure, that you"re athinking there has to be a leprechaun somewhere around, with that 3 trillion dollar pot of gold.

But now, unicorns? Surely, you know that unicorns only come to virgins¦are there any more anywhere?

[Hoelder]

You have to see more into the future. One of the ingenious policies of the Bush administration is to devalue the Dollar and run higher inflation. So that debt of the war, at least the early one, is not as much worth as it was 5 years ago. Hyper inflation is the cure. Of course all the Bush's and Cheney's money has long been parked somewhere else. That sticks the bill to us working stiff. The CPI is a joke. Soon a gallon of gasoline will be more than a gallon of milk.

[Stevelagain]

How about this folks. How about the next time Pelosi or Reid come here tossing about anti republican hate and some piss-ant bill....we jump them and demand they work on balancing the budget. We scream at them we want them to FIX THE MEDICARE DISASTER. How about we them to start with social security which is supposedly an "easy" fix.

How about it. How about progressive liberals demanding that their progressive leader be responsible and fix those issues because they ARE the biggest issues on our domestic plate and after 1.5 years....it's time to stop stalling and get to work.

I realize, its hard to get anything done on a 3 day work week, but maybe if you on the left DEMAND it, they might even work 4 days so they can work on this important stuff you are demanding of them.

I've been trying, but I need help. I need progressive liberals to demand congress balance the budget, to demand congress FIX MEDICARE. If they don't.....we stay on track for disaster. It's time to put some of the hate aside and make room for just a little bit of demanding that OUR GOVERNMENT start working on the things we need done most.

[ErinT]

Welcome back John. And thank YOU. Your attention to reality and willingness to speak out is much appreciated and I extend to you a great deal of respect. Questioning the state of our world only offers opportunity for much needed change and to recognize that looking at it from a alternate perspective lightens the load is a necessary foundation of that change. Without banter we have blind conformism and with blind conformism we have, well...these last two terms in office.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

A bit off-topic:

Please, EVERYONE, go see "WAR, Inc." later this month to support John's message against 'privatization'. It's very important OUR country understands what neoCON-type republicants, as well as lobby-bought pro-corporate Democrats, are trying to do and the perils of placing government functions like the military, highways, prisons and disaster relief into the hands of big-business and industry. The current criminal administration's greatly increased this national malfeasance with their 'no-bid / no-oversight / no-perform' contracts granted to favored corporations and misusing MANY BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars.

Rather than investing in the infrastructure of OUR country, we ALREADY see 'private-owned' highways appear while public bridges collapse, 'private-owned' armies that WILL start wars for their profit margins and a 'private-owned' prison system that in-turn 'lobbies' OUR elected leaders for greater mandatory sentences just to increase their need for existence.

We MUST vote to protect OUR country, OUR children, and OUR grandchildren, and to prevent 'corporations WITHOUT conscience' from determining the dollar value of a human life.
We CAN also vote by supporting projects like "WAR, Inc.", that expose these lobby-bribed pro-corporate movements for what they are.

[Stevelagain]

Hey, the only ones that I know who waste more money than Bush is the DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS.

1.5 years and no balanced budget, no fix for medicare, no fix for social security, no end to corrupting ear marks and yes, Obama does earmarks. No end to illegal immigration. No carbon free nuclear power plants being built. And a DEATH BILL democrats PRAISED taking our food and requiring it to go into our gas tanks as ethanol.

And they just can't spend enough. So much for the promises of "elect democrats and they will be more responsible.

Can we now admit that the democrats in congress are failing us and they are failing us because the radical left doesn't want any of the items I mentioned FIXED?

[blindjester]

Lame.

Bill Clinton was paying down the national debt by the time he left office. George Bush blew it out to record levels.

The republicans didn't even try to lower the debt or accomplish anything in the years they dominated congress, from 1994-2006, other than reduce taxes for the wealthy and spend money in Iraq.

Of course, you knew that.

[Stevelagain]

Also, you take on reality is LAME. It was NEWT G's bill, a republican, that took down the national debt. Clinton fought it screaming and hollering.

But more importantly, much more importantly, it was a DIVIDED congress and government that gave us our best government. Neither party when in power has ever acted responsibly.

Look at th democratic congress of today as the perfect example of what happens when dems have the power. They do nothing that really needs to be done.

WE have to get out of left vs right. We have to get out of the land of propaganda and hate. We have to STOP being manipulate by radical left and radical right and getting the same old government again and again. We need to demand not that the agenda of the extremes happens, but that the agenda of the average common man happens. That government is run well and balanced. Fiscally responsible. That our major social safety net is fixed. That our infrastructure really is taken care of. All the things this democratic congress have failed on and the Republican congress failed on.

We start by not accepting failure because it comes from "our" party. We start be demanding that WHOEVER is in power fix what's broken. Right now they are feeding you hate and propaganda and NOT FIXING WHATS BROKEN.

and when they come here and post you praise them for their great wisdom instead of taking them down for failing us.

[Stevelagain]

Umm, is anything I said not true? Why would you call the truth "lame"?

The Democrats took congress telling us they would be responsible. Well, 1.5 years and all we have is irresponsibility. How many years do they need before they warm up to the idea of taking one of the three days they work and talking about being responsible, say, with the budget? You know, talking about it. Because you have to talk about it before you work on it and you to work on it, before you have a bill, and then you have to have a bill to get anything really done.

No work on a balanced budget in 1.5 years? No work to fix the upcoming medicare disaster that is worse then anything else going on? No work to fix social security?

Just when is this greater fiscal responsibility they PROMISED us going to happen? I'm not talking about the past. I'm not taking about the Republicans who FAILED US in the past. I'm talking about the party in power now in congress. I'm talking about the party FAILING US NOW in congress.

Scream at them. Stop supporting their inaction and corruption while vomiting up hate for the other party. Do you know how dense and dull that makes you appear? You don't have the guts to tell them they are failing you and they need to balanced the budget, Fix medicare, Fix social security, kill ear marks, stop the corruption THEY PARTICIPATE in!

[blindjester]

There has been nothing as expensive as Bush's war. And he REDUCED our means of paying for it by reducing taxes on the wealthy, pandering to the rich supporters of his administration.

And tell me when Bush will sign a bill sent up by democrats. Tell me when republicans in the senate will allow a bill to come up for a vote that they don't want.

No, when there's a democratic supermajority in the senate and a democrat in the white house, bills will get passed. Finally. And you will cry about how they're destroying the economy, and lie about how the middle class will be hurt by everything they do.

[JackLivigni]

"What a tragedy of lost opportunities" is the underlying morality of this piece, one that this administration knows nothing about... Thanks John!

[zackmango]

I agree. Not being accustomed to thinking in terms of dollars (I am South African), I must confess that I had little grasp of the enormity of $3 trillion until I went to the website and bought New Zealand. It is quite staggering: thank you for the eye opener. We could have done so much good for so many with that kind of money, but it is instead - in Mr Cusack's words - a tragedy of lost opportunities.

I can now only look forward to settling peacefully in as the queen of the land of the long white cloud and setting a better example than Mr Bush has done to date...

[insanityfollows]

John,
I have to say that you, Viggo Mortenson, Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin, and many others in Hollywood have been bravely fighting the war and trying to educate the public, and hats off to you. Whether one agrees with all of your positions or not, you have used the high profile of your celebrity to both demonstrate that actors (at least some) do indeed posess intelligence, and have helped to bring political dialogue into the everyday lives of your fellow countrymen. We were in serious danger of losing our ability and need to have open political discourse, with many Americans having been caught up in the frenzy of patriotism after 9/11 that was exploited by this administration. Thank you for doing what many of us have been doing and trying to EDUCATE people with facts (not rhetoric and propaganda) and get them to think. Since you are much more in the public eye (and probably ultimately have more to lose) I think all of you that have been blogging, speaking, writing, etc... have shown much courage and true patriotism. Way to go.

And three trillion dollars? Maybe some of us (like me) who have had to endure major surgery and the resulting major bills, could have benefitted, along with so many others who need so much. Good blog, John.

[BadChristian]

Just wait until we get our hands on one of those damn Leprechauns and his pot o' gold... 3 trillion dollars American is nothing compared to that. Besides that, when we finally find where the leprechaun is hiding all the unicorns, we can crush up their horns and it's free health care for everyone.
That means gold, oil, health care AND Lucky Charms for breakfast.

[indypete]

You can keep the gold, oil and lucky charms... just let me have the health care. Not so much for me... My doctor's about to have a stroke over the rottenness of our system.

[akaJohnQ]

$3,000,000,000,000.00 Looks like a lot of wasted money to me. Add to that the thousands of killed and wounded Americans, and the hundreds of thousands of killed and wounded Iraqis. And consider all of the grief suffered by the families of these people. The Iraq War stinks to high heaven. The whole thing is one huge waste. And none of it was necessary. The Bush administration made a colasal blunder in starting the war, and the US may never fully recover from it.

[BOSSY]

Bossy disagrees with the very concept of this post. Spending $3 trillion on a war is *not* that easy. First you must be born extremely dimwitted, then develop the unchecked ambition of a religious zealot, then go to Chucklehead school, fail in all of your business attempts, and ultimately surround yourself with intellectual idiots dressed as Grandfathers.

[indypete]

I didn't realise it was so complicated!

[BOSSY]

Very. Complicated.

[jayne]

Yes, a $3 trillion dollar shopping spree, as well as nightmare, as is the Jenna Bush let them eat Oscar De La Renta wedding today.

But, more importantly, what does it say when we hear more from General Petraeus than from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates? In fact, who can name one defense secretary after Donald Rumsfeld---and why not?

And, who needs a State Department, after all, when we have a military.

What do you make of those who now crusade for American intervention and "occupation" of Myanmar? Humanitarian crisis aside, is one occupation better than another occupation, or are they all created equally, and whatever happened to a United Nations collaborative effort? The cowboy-in-chief appears to have succeeded quite well at nuking diplomacy in the name of saving the free world.

[angelica9]

Dear John Cusack

Polititians don't seem to spend money on the right things, whatever country they are in.
The politiams in my country don't spend it on wars (that i know of) but on illegal holidays and huge bonuses, while the rate payers have electricity cuts and rates put up exorbitantly.

I have been following the US elections, and i hope the person who becomes president will keep to their word about all the promises made in their campain. Amnesia seems to be what a lot of polititians suffer from.

This probably isn't the right place, but I've always wanted to ask you... Were you at Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday party?
My friends were saying "Look there's Mandela" and i was shouting, "Look, there's John Cusack!"
If that was you, what is your connection with South Africa?

Thanks for being part of my life (in the other dimension way that actors are) since City Hall.
M

[MichelleMauceri]

The points you made are well said and true. I¦believe that that money could be better spent at home. I don"t even want a new laptop, car, PDA, etc, just a roof over my head and that money being put into our economy could certainly help improve jobs and help other Americans keep their houses. Now I do not know much about politics and am only now following more closely to learn what I can from people who do, but what I do know is that I don"t trust politicians. All say one thing and do another.

I didn't vote for Bush and not because I had any idea this might happen, I just didn't. On the flip side however, I did understand Bush's way other thinking. I live in NY and could have been in either of the Twin Towers that day. I wasn"t fortunately, but my neighborhood at the time of this devastation, was littered with pictures of friends and neighbors who had lost their lives in 9/11. You weren't there to see the pain in their eyes. You could not walk down the street oblivious to this, and yes Bush has gone OVERBOARD, but honestly, I won"t say that revenge or "THIS MEANS WAR" wasn"t on MY MIND at the time.

[glitterglam]

Well said, John. Three trillion dollars down the drain. For what? To fight a war that is totally meaningless? BTW, watched you in "War, Inc." at the Tribeca Film Festival; loved it.
$ three trillion--is that why we have to pay higher prices for gas, oil and food? So Dubya that crook, that liar, that murderer could get off on spending our money to have innocent people killed in foreign lands? I could name different ways to spend that type of money--help the homeless, provide medical care to those who don't have insurance; etc. I don't need a new laptop and I could live with my old computer but it sickens me to think that such an astronomical amount of money has gone toward this war.

[Sc00bs]

I am from the UK and Jon reading your blog has definatly opened my eyes about your country Ours is bad enough but it seems but it seems that greed and disregard for the people and their needs is never once thought about thought about by our governments but just what they can do next to line their full pockets even more.

[libbyliberal]

John,

Thanks for your expression of indignation. Greed and corporatism on local, regional, national and global levels is devastating the planet and the family of man (and woman).

Did you and fellow commenters ever see the Canadian documentary, The Corporation? It makes the astute assertion that since corporations are "legal persons" the psychological profile of such personhood would be that of PSYCHOPATH. Narcissism, ruthlessness, amorality.

Arthur Miller's play, "All My Sons", demonstrates poignantly this moral sell-out on a personal tragic level with a father having ultimately and unwittingly sacrificed his son's (along with so may others) life by his corporate-loyal decision to shortchange military equipment.

Right now the FISA situation has returned to Congress, whereby telecom companies are successfully pressuring for another shot at immunity. Senator Rockefeller who backs Obama, by the way (so I would like to see Barack take a VOCAL stand on this) is eager to forge a compromise on behalf of the telecoms (and this would be used by Bush and his associates to get THEIR "not really our responsibility" free cards). The House stood firm but pressure from Senators like Rockefeller to excuse the inexcusable is going on. "Hey, they were only doing their CORPORATE (a/k/a SELF-SERVING PSYCHOPATHIC) thing. Business as amorally usual. When apologist senators referred to the telecoms as "corporate patriots" that was hard to stomach.

The time for INTENSE activism is here, to call/write House Reps and Senators to stand firm and not grant telecom immunity.

[glavpuppet]

Just managed to spend $3 trillion (and normally I am very good at spending my cash.)....... I don't have a very good grasp of the American political system, hence my interest in The Huffington Post, but is it too late for John Cusack to stand as a candidate? I only ask as the far reaching consequences of the US Presidents actions affect us all globally and I would find the presence of someone sensible in The Whitehouse very reassuring.

[glavpuppet]

The reason I don't have a good grasp of the American political system is not lack of education..... I am in fact British. I hate to think what our Iraqi bar tab is

[GinaHeath]

Hello John

I live in Fairbanks, AK, a mighty military town, but I am not military. I thought, as Jane Q. Citizen, I was getting good info from the net and tv. I was invited to visit the air force base for an entertainment show and was positively shocked beyond words at the propaganda I witnessed. And I thought Hollywood was biased. The military sells its ideals via powerful emotional visual and audio presentations. I honestly didn't know because I do not live in military culture. That led me to ask, "why aren't average people like me pissed off enough to do something about this war?" I concluded that most of us working stiffs ARE mad, but we are consumed with putting food on the table, keeping a roof overhead, paying down debt, and fretting about rising gas prices. I personally don't have time to do political research, and I feel impotent and unable effect any type of change. Most folks probably don't even know how go about effecting change. I vote, but I already know who the new president is before the polls even open here in Fairbanks, so voting feels futile.

You are a movie star. You have a voice. You have the power to change minds. I commend your activism and willingness to do the research to funnel the information to the rest of us.

Where do you get your news and information, because I would like to plug into those data streams.

[clevelandchick]

Gina,

There are a few good news sources out there actually reporting the facts. McClatchy News is one of them. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/. Global Security is another great source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/ and so is Consortium News. http://www.consortiumnews.com/:

Then there is the awesome Brave New Films, Robert Greenwald's site for must-see documentaries on Iraq and our government. http://bravenewfilms.org/

If I were to pick two films you should buy first, they would be:

War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us To Death - a fantastic documentary on how the media and our administrations team up to sell the American people war

Iraq For Sale - Probably the very best documentary on how the money is being spent & misspent in Iraq.

[GinaHeath]

Cool Cleveland Chick
Thank you! I'll put your recommended links on my favorites list and start digging in. I'm kind of embarrassed that I seem to have been living under a rock during grad school. Culturally, I think docility is the prized and only acceptable way of living, and change requires movement along the political continuum to a place where average people are uncomfortable being. You have to be radical (or rich/famous) to effect change. Since most are not rich/famous, the only option is to get radical, and most people aren't willing to go there. Yet. My dad says nothing motivates people like hunger. I admire those actors like John Cusack for sticking their necks out and cracking the window open for the rest of us. It would be dreamy to have a conversation with him.
Gina