What the Iraq War costs Chico

Data show the domestic needs that could have been met instead

This article was published on 07.10.08

A week ago Monday (June 30), President Bush signed into law a $162 billion war supplemental spending bill, providing an additional $130 billion for the Iraq War alone. This new funding brings the total allocated for the Iraq War to $656.1 billion.

That’s an almost incomprehensible figure, so the nonprofit National Priorities Project has analyzed the data and shown what that much money could buy local communities if it were spent on domestic needs instead.

Chicoans’ share of that Iraq War funding comes to a staggering $90.9 million. The list below describes what that money could have paid for here instead.

37,431
adults’ health care for one year

33,995
children’s health care for one year

5,439
children’s Head Start places for two years

81,018
homes’ renewable electricity for two years

3,416
university students’ scholarships for four years

130
elementary-school teachers for 10 years

128
music and art teachers for 10 years

162
public-safety officers for 10 years

Source: National Priorities Project