Bush League Accounting

“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money”, Senator Everett M. Dirksen is supposed to have said. If a few billions are real money, then what’s a few trillion? Nothing to worry about, according to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

Yesterday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report stating “total spending for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities related to the war on terrorism would amount to between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion for fiscal years 2001 through 2017.” Add on another $705 billion in interest due to the way the wars are being financed, and that bring the figure to $2.4 trillion, with Iraq expenditures making up $1.9 trillion of the total.

Asked for a comment on the CBO’s figures, Dana Perino said, “[I]t’s just a ton of speculation. It’s a hypothetical … What I can tell you is I’m not worried about the number.” Apparently Perino is made of sterner stuff than the late Senator Dirksen.

Tags: Afghanistan, billions, Congressional Budget Office, Dana Perino, Everett Dirksen, iraq, trillions, worry