Paying for our wars {not to mention Results Of}

Al Franken U.S. Senator: Senate Update: Paying for our wars

May 05, 2011 - Over the last nine years, we’ve spent well over one trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’ve had to borrow nearly every penny of it, which is why I’ve introduced legislation to require that spending on new wars be paid for.

My “Pay for War” bill basically says that if we spend money on a new war we must pay for that spending. My bill does not specify how we should pay for our wars. It leaves that up to Con­gress. But paying for our wars will have several key benefits for our country.

First, the financial cost of war will be clear, not hidden. The result of borrowing for our wars is that the public gets the mistaken impression that going to war requires no financial sacrifice. And we know that that’s just not true.

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Finally, all Americans, not just the military, should feel the cost of war. A huge gap has grown between the majority of the American people and the small proportion that serves in the military. So much sacrifice has been asked of them and their families, yet so little of the rest of us. {continued}