Shortly after the US launched its war on Iran, military officials reportedly told lawmakers that it would cost about $1.5 billion per day. There were reasons to believe that this was likely an undercount. Those impressions were bolstered once reports surfaced that the Pentagon is seeking an additional $200 billion appropriation from Congress.
Even with a military budget that exceeds $1 trillion, this is a substantial increase in spending. Since Trump took office, the White House and the Republican majority in Congress have enacted sharp cuts to social spending and safety net programs – most prominently as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) – because they thought it necessary to rein in government spending.
On an annual basis, several of the most high profile cuts are estimated to cost less the Iran war’s $200 billion price tag:
+ Medicaid cuts: $100 billion
+ Cuts to the SNAP food assistance program: $20 billion
+ Expiration of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies: $30 billion
+ Recissions package cutting foreign aid and Corporation for Public Broadcasting: $9 billion
The health care cuts are projected to cause millions of people to lose their coverage. Millions will lose their food assistance, leading to potentially tens of thousands of avoidable deaths.
Trump has said that the additional war funding is “a small price to pay to make sure that we stay tippy top.” When it comes to these other programs, though, evidently the price was too high.
This first appeared on CEPR.
The post $200 Billion: The Costs of the Iran War appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Peter Hart.