A War Tax Is Needed

The previous administration seemed to think that wars do not cost anything. They instituted tax cuts at the same time they started two wars -- Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republicans (and far too many Democrats) are in favor of waging these two wars, but they are opposed to raising any taxes to pay for those wars.

Well, wars cannot be fought for free. In fact, few things are as expensive as waging a war, and I'm just talking about the dollars that have to be spent. It gets far worse when you factor in the cost in human lives.

President Obama is now considering sending 34,000 new troops to the quagmire that is Afghanistan. That would boost the cost of that war to at least $100 billion a year, or $1 trillion over the next ten years (and there is no reason to think it won't drag on for that long).

And that doesn't even figure in any of the costs of the Iraq War, which now looks like it could drag on past 2011 since the Iraqis are not going to have their scheduled election in January (and no one can say when that election might be held).

The cost of either one of these wars is greater than the expected cost of the health care reform being considered. And the cost of both put together would more than cover the costs of health care reform and the economic stimulus. I am amazed that the same people who support both of these ridiculous wars, tell us we cannot afford to stimulate the economy or pass health care reform.

The past administration (and the present one to a certain extent) wanted to wage a war without cauing any pain for the American people -- and that just can't be done. All they have done is to throw our country deeply in debt. It is time to change that. If you support these two wars, then it is time to bite the bullet and pay for them (and if you don't support them, it's time to tell your government to stop them).

I am in favor of a special surcharge on income taxes (graduated for income levels) to pay for the wars. Actually, I would prefer that we bring all our troops back home. But since that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon, we should pass a war tax to pay for them. Then maybe we'd have the money to do some things really needed here at home.

Fortunately, Speaker Pelosi now says she would consider a war tax. In addition, several important House committee chairmen have agreed to consider imposing the war tax, including Barney Frank (Financial Services), Charlie Rangel (Ways and Means), John Murtha (Defense Appropriations) and David Obey (House Appropriations).

Nothing the government does is free -- especially waging a foreign war. And all wars should involve some sacrifice from citizens. We either need to pay for these wars or stop them. Doing neither just pushes the war debt on to our grandchildren.