REPORT -- Cost of the Wars

As noted in the news -- the Joint Economic Committee Majority Staff has just published a report on the Cost of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They estimate it could exceed $3.5 trillion.

"November 13: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will join Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Chairman Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and JEC Vice Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today released a new report exposing the hidden costs of the war in Iraq. The Joint Economic Committee report investigates the costs of the war in Iraq that are not included in direct budgetary appropriations, including long term veteran’s health care, foregone investment, oil market disruptions and interest payments on borrowed war funding. The JEC estimates these costs could total in the trillions of dollars."

Joint Economic Committee -- War at Any Price?—the Total Economic Costs of the War Beyond the Federal Budget and it is available at http://jec.senate.gov/Documents/Reports/11.13.07IraqEconomicCostsReport.pdf

The press release includes a brief summary
http://jec.senate.gov/Documents/Releases/11.13.07IraqReportRelease.pdf

Individual charts are available as follows:

• The American Family Will Bear Heavy Burden to Pay for Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/Chart2.pdf
• With No Change in Course, Total Costs Incurred per Family Reach Almost $50,000 by 2017 http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/chart1.pdf
• The Projected Interest Costs of Iraq War Alone are Higher than the Cost of Children's Health Program and Health Research and Training http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/chart3.pdf
• Taxpayer Spending on Iraq War vs. Federal Spending on Other Priorities http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/chart4.pdf
• Breaking Down the Costs of War in Iraq http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/chart5.pdf
• Total Economic Costs Under Future Scenarios http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/chart%20a-1.pdf
• State-by-State Heat Map: States Bear Billions in Iraq War Costs http://jec.senate.gov/charts/Iraq%20Economic%20Cost%20Report/state%20by%20state%20new.pdf

The response from the Joint Economic Committee Republicans can be found at http://www.house.gov/jec/news/2007/Nov/JEC%20GOP%20Response.pdf

They say the report should be withdrawn -- that it is politically motivated and filled with errors and poor methodology. A second press release from them indicates that some errors were quietly corrected on the web version. http://www.house.gov/jec/news/2007/Nov/JEC%20GOP%20Response%2011-14.pdf