re: #219 Obdicut

We could have spent it at home? You’re assuming that we’d have run up massive deficits above and beyond those already incurred? That’s a mighty huge assumption.

Moreover, the economic analysis here does pass muster based on the CBO figures - the Iraq war as a portion of spending over the past seven years is just under the amount of spending done by Obama and the Democrats in just one year. Deficits were actually declining before Democrats took over the House and then the White House.

But, let’s go with your notion that the spending on the war was bad and should have been spent on alternatives. If the war and the spending on the war was bad (but actually helped several industries - including aerospace, tech, high tech, manufacturing, etc.) where exactly is that money harming the economy? You’re just prioritizing spending on different industries - or social programs, even when those social programs haven’t exactly worked out as promoted.