The prospect of a ballooning new spending bill has GOP leaders bracing for a messy internal fight.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are preparing to confront a staggering price tag for the war in the Middle East after closed-door briefings this week detailed the rapid consumption of expensive munitions and the lack of any firm deadline for the end of the military campaign.

Asked how much the Iran offensive would cost, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) didn’t sugarcoat it.

“A lot,” he replied.

Senior Republicans privately expect Donald Trump’s administration to request tens of billions of dollars for the Middle East conflict and other military needs from Congress in the coming days, with some GOP lawmakers hearing estimates that the Pentagon is spending as much as $2 billion a day on the war.

    • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
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      6 hours ago

      quick estimate because i’ve seen this a few times:

      australia spends ~$279b/y on health (~$190b usd)

      australia is roughly the population of texas at 27.6m

      us population is 340m

      so all things being equal that’s $2.2t usd for the us population

      so after 6y at war you could have had 1y of healthcare

      ngl i was really hoping it’d be closer :(

      (but of course this is bullshit anyway because yall already pay for healthcare, and lives extinguished vs lives saved etc etc… thus the “all things being equal” like circular cow in a vacuum)

      • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
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        4 hours ago

        Right now we are pay more than that already but privately, so it’s actually a drag on the economy.

        Government can spend basically any amount of money it wants. It would be an investment in citizens.

        Neoliberals would never let that happen

        • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
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          3 hours ago

          yeah i completely agree with that part… just i think in terms of costs i wanted to know for real if its a good argument, and figured id document it

          yall have some of the highest per capita healthcare costs in the world, and some of the worst health outcomes among peer economies. “too expensive” and “better quality” are both terrible arguments based on the reality of the situation (lol reality… because that matters)

          … but it’s also interesting to put into perspective: that $2b/day doesn’t even come close to healthcare costs (although… it’s not an order of magnitude off, so there’s that i guess)

    • 7112@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      Senior Republicans privately expect President Donald Trump’s administration to request tens of billions of dollars for the Middle East conflict and other military needs from Congress in the coming days, with some GOP lawmakers hearing estimates that the Pentagon is spending as much as $2 billion a day on the war.