The War We Couldn't Afford Vs. The Stimulus We Needed

I want to make sure I have this straight. The federal government borrowing from China to fund the War on Terror was bad but the federal government borrowing from China to pay for make work jobs was good. At least that was the working theory as I understood it when the Democrats where trying to sell the idea back at the start of 09.

The only problem is that it didn't work. And the Democrats own this failure now.

Stimulus at work!

According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.

Chart thanks to Fox News.

The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion.

The U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2010 is expected to be $1.3 trillion, according to CBO. That compares to a 2007 deficit of $160.7 billion and a 2008 deficit of $458.6 billion, according to data provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

In 2007 and 2008, the deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product was 1.2 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

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