#WeCouldHaveHadHealthCare
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2026
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FWIW we've been seeing that amount be advertised for months. So either people talking about the fact that "the war having cost $40bn so far" were wrong months ago, or this number is under-evaluated for political reasons. Or both.
Seems cheap for the amount of hardware expended. I would not be surprised if there is another set of books involved.
I don't understand why people think this is a good use of their tax money. Everyone complains about state taxes when it is much less and pays for everything you see and use. Then you have federal taxes which are a massive black hole.
I have no sympathy for Americans caring about the tax payer cost while ignoring their complicity in imperialist wars (yes, it is plural). If you are not protesting as hard the annexation and extraction of Venezuela's oil, the embargo of Cuba (shit, I am getting tired of listing crimes against humanity), you are not protesting war, you are protesting losing and you should not expect anyone in the world to feel sorry for you.
This is what we expect from Americans though. They decry the loss of American lives, even when those specific persons were involved in murdering people who aren't and don't want to be American.
You'll notice that people from other places don't talk that way. Europeans don't talk about "French lives," Japanese don't talk about "Japanese lives," and Iranians don't talk about "Iranian lives." It's a uniquely American thing and it's all about an ingrained sense of American exceptionalism.
Remember this number when they say they can't afford any social programs ...
Taxpayers: "$37.5b 😵💫"
Heggy: "$37.5b so far!"
Everyone is focusing on the taxpayer cost, which is of course exorbitant. But try instead thinking about how many private jets the weapon manufacturers and politicians in their pocket are getting out of it.
Or, how many innocent children died for that.
Australia's total NBN build out cost ~US$36 billion (AU$51 billion) for comparison. That's including rolling parts of it out twice since we half-arsed some of it the first time.
And yet Hegseth still has his job. I want my money back.
The Bush administration predicted 50 billion. Iraq cost the US 6 trillion.
But wasn't it so worth it?! /s
Yes, actually. To the villainous scum we call our leaders, it is worth it.
They've been seeding the Middle East with vengeful fury for the last 40+ years. Not only did we ensure a 100% chance of some sort of counter-offensive or rebellion to jumpstart the next war, but we've made doubly sure that they will echo war after war after war forever as new Muslim teens are raised and given a guiding finger at the US for all of life's troubles, not that they're entirely wrong.
So up up up goes defense spending and up up up goes the war bonds and up up up goes the petrol, forever. This is how the US war machine works.
[This ]
cost trillions of dollars and millions of lives to create
I guess all the data centers eating your local water supply are better because…smart machine thinks good? What the fuck is this timeline
I'm truly clueless what you're saying. Smart machine? You do understand I was being sarcastic..?
And he's a liar so triple that at minimum.
And what possible reason do we have to believe anything he says?
Wasn't it reported higher than that for the first month alone ?
How much money have Netanjahu and Trump contributed to pay for their personal folly?
Up goes the inflation.
Peter eater is a liar.
We were burning over ten billy a month during the Iraq War.
I think you'll find it's the Vice President who wore black nail polish to school...
OMG this real?
E: Sadly no
He looks like every college rapist ever
Mfer looked worse in the real photo.
He looked 40 in highschool. Weird.
Awww darn I was hoping it was real, but I was having a hard time verifying :(
You must have watched some questioning today.
“In Jesus Christ’s name, amen.” —Pete Pentagone
"Every gun that is made..."
How does respond without shrieking in fury
That's actually a lot less than I expected.
Because he lied about the actual number.
Pretty high chance it is inaccurate.
Yeah but it also raised prices around the world, including in the US, and this money could have gone to its inhabitants instead, so in reality it has costed the American tax payer and many of its companies much more.
Make Israel pay for the war they wanted America to fight
I mean they're just gonna pay with US money anyways. Better skip the middleman lol