The annual budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs has more than doubled since 2003 to a requested $132 billion for fiscal 2012. That amount is expected to rise sharply over the next four decades as lingering health problems for veterans become more serious as they grow older. Costs for Vietnam veterans did not peak until 30 or 40 years after the end of the war, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “We will have a vast overhang in domestic costs for caring for the wounded and covering retirement expenditure of the war fighters,” said Loren Thompson, a policy expert with the Lexington Institute. “The U.S. will continue to incur major costs for decades to come.”

Caring for veterans, more than 2 million of them, could alone reach $1 trillion, according to Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, in Congressional testimony in July. More than 32,000 soldiers were wounded in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Altogether, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost the U.S. between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. The U.S. has already spent $2 trillion on the wars after including debt interest and the higher cost of veterans’ disabilities.

The annual budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs has more than doubled since 2003 to a requested $132 billion for fiscal 2012. That amount is expected to rise sharply over the next four decades as lingering health problems for veterans become more serious as they grow older. Costs for Vietnam veterans did not peak until 30 or 40 years after the end of the war, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “We will have a vast overhang in domestic costs for caring for the wounded and covering retirement expenditure of the war fighters,” said Loren Thompson, a policy expert with the Lexington Institute. “The U.S. will continue to incur major costs for decades to come.”

Caring for veterans, more than 2 million of them, could alone reach $1 trillion, according to Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, in Congressional testimony in July. More than 32,000 soldiers were wounded in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Altogether, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost the U.S. between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. The U.S. has already spent $2 trillion on the wars after including debt interest and the higher cost of veterans’ disabilities.

The annual budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs has more than doubled since 2003 to a requested $132 billion for fiscal 2012. That amount is expected to rise sharply over the next four decades as lingering health problems for veterans become more serious as they grow older. Costs for Vietnam veterans did not peak until 30 or 40 years after the end of the war, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “We will have a vast overhang in domestic costs for caring for the wounded and covering retirement expenditure of the war fighters,” said Loren Thompson, a policy expert with the Lexington Institute. “The U.S. will continue to incur major costs for decades to come.”

Caring for veterans, more than 2 million of them, could alone reach $1 trillion, according to Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, in Congressional testimony in July. More than 32,000 soldiers were wounded in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Altogether, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost the U.S. between $4 trillion and $6 trillion. The U.S. has already spent $2 trillion on the wars after including debt interest and the higher cost of veterans’ disabilities.

Willard Mittens Romney thinks Russia is our number one enemy. Someone needs to tell him that when Pakistan shut down the supply routes to Afghanistan (for the US military!) that all other backup supply routes went through RUSSIA. If Willard becomes president, then there is a good chance that US military forces in Afghanistan will be in the same situation the French army was in at Dien Bien Phu in 1953!

Is it any wonder why so many douches who watch Fox News are EXCITED about going to war with Iran?

Here is a headline from not too long ago; "Iran Sees Gains in Iraq Election." Iran's man Muqtada al-Sadr is gaining ever more political influence. Al-Sadr, who has thousands of followers across Iraq, has opposed the presence of all foreign forces and calls for an end to the occupation of Iraq. Al-Sadr has a portrait of his hero the 'Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini' in his office. American military might, nation building expertise and Republican social engineering may have soon complete the installation of an Islamic-Fascist state in the middle east. Thank you Republican Party say the Islamo-Fascists of the world! It was all accomplished with the Bush tax cut. Yippee!

Again, "When would big government suit a Republican's needs?" You and many here have asked. Let me answer that question. When the Republican Party removed 'the evil Saddam Hussein who killed hundreds of thousands of his fellow Iraqis' and believe that it's the American people's responsibility, rather than the Iraqi people's responsibility to free themselves. When the Republican Party promoted the 'ownership society' that helped bring on the housing bubble and all of its subsequent bailouts. When the Republicans party creates new programs like their precious 'Faith Based Initiatives.'

Republicans say "Abolish every U.S. Department except..." The Republicans have come full circle. This is the screed posted by Republicans when 'Bubba' Clinton was president. They said the Department of Education should be abolished. Guess what happened when George W. Bush became president, Denny Hastert(R) was speaker of the House and Trent Lott(R) was Senate Majority Leader? THEY DOUBLED IT! They then concoct a story like "We came to Washington and Washington changed us." What a crock! They came to Washington with their core values intact and engorged themselves on the teat of government sow. Watch what people do, not what they say. How does adding another layer of entitlement spending (MedPresc) fix this?