This war is helping the economy?

[lily]

It's no secret that Bush has his own version of the Iraq war that he and others believe in........but spending on the war is helping the economy? (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23181563/)

Exclusive: Bush sits down with Ann Curry in Africa
President talks about hopes for Africa, Iraq, Kosovo and politics back home

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 42 minutes ago
President George Bush spent President’s Day touring Africa to promote his
administration’s humanitarian efforts on the continent, but the outgoing
chief executive is keenly aware that the war in Iraq will dominate pages of
history books devoted to his eight years in office for many generations to
come.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview Monday with TODAY's Ann Curry, Bush
said that historians will look favorably upon the U.S. involvement in Iraq
and insisted that the war has served as a stabilizing force for the Middle
East as a whole.

“I firmly believe that the mission will yield peace,” Bush said during a
stop in Arusha, Tanzania. “Iraq is changing. Democracy is beginning to take
hold. I’m convinced 50 years from now people will look back and say thank
God there were people who were willing to sacrifice.”



With First Lady Laura Bush at this side, the President also said he believes
spending on the war in Iraq is helping the economy, rather than hurting it,
at a time when excessive housing construction is bringing followed by a
period of economic slowdown.

[potter]

I think the war spending is helping certain segments of society...

Oil, defense, ....the industries in which the Bush and Cheney families have always been a part of.

[el comandante]

|he economy will gain in the long run, once the oil companies start making big profits and if it ever becomes safe for the multi national capitalists to get a foothold in Iraq.

But just because the economy will gain as a whole doesnt mean the average person will see any of the benefits. Corporate fat cats will get richer, but at the cost of the Iraqi people and the American tax payer.

[bishop]

I think the war spending is helping certain segments of society...

Oil, defense, ....the industries in which the Bush and Cheney families have always been a part of.


that's definitely the truth. if you're a part of the military industrial complex, then wars will always be a boom to your wallets.

and since the war is being entirely financed by borrowing huge sums of money, the purported benefits are entirely temporary. it's also an expense that shows no signs of abatement. the future interest payments on these debts will effectively suck capital out of our economy, so the "goodness" of war spending depends on what timeframe you're looking at. the scumbags in government hope that americans continue to fail to look beyond their own noses when it comes to economic issues (i.e. any debate over the long-term effects of our fiscal policies is effectively shunned/ignored).

[ViolaLee]

Only a moron thinks that doubling the national debt helps the economy.

Oh yeah, Bush is a moron, that's right.

[Truth_and_Power]

Only a moron thinks that doubling the national debt helps the economy.

Oh yeah, Bush is a moron, that's right.


No, no, no, you're looking at it all wrong! Whereas when it comes to a person, a family, or a company it's all about how much money you make and how much money you spend, and what the benefits of that spending are to the bottom line, when you're running a country it's ever so much more complicated than that and little peons like us couldn't possibly understand. You see with a country it's more about the trade deficit trickle down tax cut stilmulus plan that involves really big numbers with lots of zeroes. Just because it makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE unless you completely suspend all your mental facilities and allow yourself to be hypnotized by the big words, doesn't mean it's not really really great!

[Grizz]

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview Monday with TODAY's Ann Curry, Bush said that historians will look favorably upon the U.S. involvement in Iraq and insisted that the war has served as a stabilizing force for the Middle East as a whole.

“I firmly believe that the mission will yield peace,” Bush said during a
stop in Arusha, Tanzania. “Iraq is changing. Democracy is beginning to take hold. I’m convinced 50 years from now people will look back and say thank God there were people who were willing to sacrifice.”

Well, of course the war has stabilized the Middle East... and it will continue to be stabilized right up to Armageddon. Right? I must say that the man's fantasy bubble has grown since he's been in office but I guess that comes from not being very inquisitive and refusing to have any staffers who might have the temerity to provide conflicting, or even, negative views. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how many generations it will take to clean up his messes?

[ViolaLee]

Probably 3 or so....

[Tharagor]

and since the war is being entirely financed by borrowing huge sums of money, the purported benefits are entirely temporary. it's also an expense that shows no signs of abatement. the future interest payments on these debts will effectively suck capital out of our economy, so the "goodness" of war spending depends on what timeframe you're looking at. the scumbags in government hope that americans continue to fail to look beyond their own noses when it comes to economic issues (i.e. any debate over the long-term effects of our fiscal policies is effectively shunned/ignored).


Such concerns seem to have been far from mainstream concern for a long time. It pops up in Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.