How much in taxes is Iraq war going to cost us next year? Keep paying they will never leave.?

like social security keep paying it stays. Ron Paul for presdent.

Have you checked the deficit? Might want to check it out before asking this question.

WASHINGTON -- The federal deficit fell to a four-year low in the budget year that just ended, a result President Bush pointed to yesterday in saying that Republicans are better stewards of the economy than are Democrats.

The administration said the deficit dropped to $247.7 billion -- welcome news for Republicans struggling to keep control of Congress. Bush boasted he had made good on a 2004 campaign promise to cut the deficit in half over five years.

``These budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work," Bush said.

Democrats said the improvement in the 2006 federal deficit is a temporary blip. They predicted rising deficits for years to come unless policies are changed.

``Only a president with such a historically bad economic record would be this excited about a $248 billion deficit," said Representative Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York. ``Under his watch . . . record surpluses turned into record deficits as far as the eye can see."

Republicans are trying to convince voters that the GOP champions tax cuts while Democrats will raise taxes if they gain control of Congress. Democrats contend the administration's tax cuts have primarily benefited the wealthy.

The administration credits its tax cuts for the improving economy, contending they helped the nation withstand the 2001 recession, the terrorist attacks, and corporate accounting scandals. The deficit narrowed sharply because revenues climbed by 11.8 percent, outpacing a 7.4 percent increase in spending.

Administration officials said the actual 2006 deficit is down to 1.9 percent of the gross domestic product. They said that is below the 40-year average deficit of about 2.3 percent of the GDP, which measures the value of all US goods and services. This continues a positive trend that comes despite soaring war costs and $50 billion in emergency spending for hurricane relief, they said.

Still, the long-term deficit picture is bleak.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the deficit for the current budget year will rise to $286 billion. Over the next decade, the office forecasts the deficit will total $1.76 trillion.

Bush's critics argue that the White House is using sleight of hand when boasting about the deficit.

The president can rightly state that he has fulfilled his 2004 campaign pledge to cut the deficit in half by the time he leaves office. But in making that claim, the president is using the administration's forecast of what the 2004 deficit was expected to be -- not what it turned out to be.

Back when Bush made his promise, the administration was predicting that the 2004 deficit would be $521 billion. That prediction turned out to be off by $100 billion. To achieve the feat of slicing the actual 2004 deficit number in half, the federal deficit Bush was highlighting would have to have dropped to $206 billion, not $247.7 billion.

Just pretend Iraq is like the 51st state - a Red State, that takes more from the revenue system that it gives back...

So just consider Iraq to be like the new Alabama
Well you will just keep paying it anyhow wont you.
Bush & Co. are not paying for Iraq with taxes. They are paying for it with deficit spending, which increases our national debt.

Which by the way, has increased from about $4 trillion in 2000 to over $8 trillion now.

My advice: learn to speak Mandarin or Cantonese.

booman: try linking a legitimate report on the true deficit. Here is one from a conservative website.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles...

"If the federal government used the same standard accounting procedures employed by corporations, the real budget deficit for 2005 would have been more than 10 times what was officially reported.

The White House and Congress tallied the deficit for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2005, at $318 billion.

But the audited version from the Treasury Department, which uses a different accounting method, put the deficit at $760 billion.

And by using standard accounting procedures used by corporations, and including such future outlays as Social Security and Medicare, the real deficit would stand at a staggering $3.5 trillion. "
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OUCH! Kinda blows your report out of the water.....

And if you think it was any better for 2006, you're smoking crack.
Considerably less than the unconstitutional socialist welfare state is costing us, at least $1 trillion less per year.

If you want to look at the factors that are driving the budget deficit - it ain't the war or the military. Look to the bloated $1.5+ trillion in spending that has no constitutional basis.