* We Could have been Billionaires ~ Our Money at War ~ Musings

The population of the U.S. is currently over 300 million The cost of the war in Iraq is currently over 300 billion. Every U.S. citizen--man, woman, and child could have had one billion dollars, i.e., $1,000,000,000 if it had not been spent on the war. Did I figure that out correctly? And thousands of people would still be alive.

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* The Monetary Cost of the War in Iraq in Perspective

CodePink: A Reason to Support the March on Washington, D.C., January 27-29, 2007

"President Bush's State of the Union address only drives home why we need to take to the streets this Saturday. As much as he spoke of "hope and opportunity" for America's future Tuesday night, Bush is squandering our truest hopes and opportunities by funneling so much money into an unnecessary war.

"This recent graphic in the NY Times highlights how recklessly our tax dollars are being used. We are pouring $200 billion dollars into the war in Iraq, while universal health care for everyone in the country without insurance would cost just half that amount. Universal preschool would only cost our country $35 billion. Immunizing the entire world's children against diseases such as measles and diphtheria would cost $0.6 billion."

New York Times Graphic ...

Other reasons and some of the sponsors of the march:

United For Peace and Justice
A.N.S.W.E.R.
Progressive Democrats of America
Democrats.com

METAXY War Casualties in Iraq,
US and Iraqi and,

$ Cost of War

* America's "Broken Government"

CNN's Jack Cafferty

About the Show

"In a year in which American voters will make critical decisions on issues from the war on terror to scandal in Washington to an exploding national debt, CNN’s "Broken Government" examines all branches of government and explores how much of the system may be broken beyond repair. The series premieres Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. ET. A five-part series then airs Oct. 23, 24, 26, 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET."

* $ Cost of the Iraq War Continually Rising

On November 5, 2006, the figure was $340,023,263,355.

* United States Internal & External Debt

ASIA TIMES ONLINE

"As of December [2005], the International Monetary Fund lists Japan's reserves at $847 billion, China's at $819 billion, Taiwan's at $253 billion, South Korea's at $210 billion, Russia's at $194 billion, and India's at $137 billion. These reserves, held overwhelmingly as US dollars, are the potential gasoline just waiting for the match to set alight a huge global economic conflagration."

Japan - $847,000,000,000
China - $819,000,000,000
Taiwan - $253,000,000,000
South Korea - $210,000,000,000
Russia - $194,000,000,000
India - $137,000,000,000
Britain - ?

* Partial list of countries owed.

Visit the U.S. National Debt [Internal & External] Clock : Updated Every Second

Of that figure, the United States, as of October 18, 2006, owes the above countries a total of $3,699,664,376,039.21.



U.S. Debt to the Penny and Who Holds it

TANNER: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
BUYING U.S. DEBT

October 20, 2006

*The federal government will have accumulated a $374 billion deficit in the fiscal year that ended last month, not including additional spending in Iraq, according to estimates from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The nation’s government owes almost $7 trillion, and roughly $1.38 trillion of that is held by other countries, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

"We are increasingly turning to foreign investors to finance our federal budget and the war in Iraq," Tanner said. "To keep up with the unprecedented growth in federal expenditures, we have to borrow billions from other countries."

Mainland China and Hong Kong bought $177 billion of U.S. debt in the first seven months of 2003. Chinese holdings in the U.S. debt have more than doubled since 2001. Other countries holding major investments in the U.S. debt include Japan, the United Kingdom, Caribbean Banking Centers, Germany and Korea."

The Spiraling Costs of Uncle Sam's Deficits
March 17, 2006

~ Peter Morici