by Travis Sharp Bottom Line: If the United States keeps 55,000 troops in Iraq through 2018, about a third as many troops as are presently deployed, the aggregate cost of the war in Iraq will reach approximately $1.1 trillion. The aggregate cost jumps to $1.7 trillion if one includes aggregate debt service costs for the […]
Our $70 Billion Lump of Coal
by Travis Sharp Published in the Topeka Capital-Journal on January 11, 2008 If you are anything like me, January is a time of considerable anxiety. My waistline has expanded after too many holiday cookies and too much eggnog. The sweater my grandmother gave me lies abandoned in the corner collecting dust. Worst of all, VISA […]
Analysis of FY2008 “Bridge” War Funding Supplemental (Attached to Omnibus Appropriations Bill S. 2764): Cost of Wars Now Surpasses Vietnam War
by Travis Sharp On December 18, 2007, the Senate approved an amendment introduced by Republican leader Mitch McConnell providing $70 billion in “bridge” funding for ongoing U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has requested $196 billion in war funding for Fiscal Year 2008. The $70 billion “bridge” provides 36% of this […]
Analysis of Senate Armed Services Committee Action on the FY2008 Defense Authorization Bill (S. 1585)
by Christopher Hellman and Travis Sharp The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) completed its markup of S. 1585, the FY2008 Defense Authorization bill, on May 25, 2007. The Administration submitted its FY2008 national defense request in February in two separate parts: a base budget of $507 billion and a war-related spending package of $141.8 billion to […]
Federal Funding for Biological Weapons Prevention and Defense, Fiscal Years 2001 to 2008
The Administration is proposing an additional $6.77 billion in bioweapons-related spending, approximately $550 million (9%) more than the amount that Congress appropriated for FY2007.