Republicans are determined to stay in Iraq, and they don’t care how much it costs:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported today that “total spending for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities related to the war on terrorism would amount to between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion for fiscal years 2001 through 2017.” With $705 billion in interest, the cost of the wars could amount to $2.4 trillion — with $1.9 trillion in Iraq.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino attacked the report as “a ton of speculation” and downplayed it as a creation “based on questions that Democrats in Congress that don’t want us to be in the war asked.” Perino added that the White House is not concerned about the exact cost of the war:

[I]t’s just a ton of speculation. It’s a hypothetical … What I can tell you is I’m not worried about the number.

[...]

The CBO’s projection is not “pure speculation.” In fact, the report considers a range of predictions about the U.S. military presence in Iraq, consistent with the administration’s desire for Korea-like, “enduring” occupation of Iraq. For example, in one scenario, the CBO predicts 30,000 troops deployed for the “war on terrorism” until FY2017. In another, they predict a more “gradual” decline to 75,000 by the start of fiscal year 2013 until 2017.

While the White House may not be “worried about the number,” the cost is certain to be harmful to the economy. “[I]t’s clear under analysis that the nation is on an unstable fiscal path,” CBO Director Peter Orszag told Congress today. The “higher debt and interest costs, is going to cause severe economic dislocation, which are exacerbated by war costs.”

[...]

Tim Grieve adds: “CBO officials were asked this afternoon whether the $2.4 trillion figure represents their ‘worst-case’ scenario. No, they said: It represents only the worst of two different scenarios the CBO priced out. The real costs could actually be higher.”

So, the total cost of Iraq and Afghanistan will be close to $2.4 trillion dollars, according to our government’s own estimate.  In comparison, that’s more than twice than the entire United States federal budget for 2008 (which is a mere $1.075 trillion).  And that’s not even the worst case scenario–that’s the likely cost.  The actual cost may be even higher.

In all fairness, though, that’s the White House.  They’ve always had little compunction against spending huge amounts of our money. But what about Congress, which is (supposedly) full of those Republican fiscal conservatives? Surely they will fix this. Surely they will demand the government reign in it’s reckless spending. Surely they will raise hell at hearings and floor debates, demanding conscientious management of the people’s money. Surely they will use the bloated costs of these wars to demand a return to common-sense fiscal policies.  Right?

Well, in a word, no:

The House Budget Committee held a hearing today to receive testimony regarding the CBO’s estimate that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars may total $2.4 trillion. Only one Republican member of the committee attended. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) noted their absence:

Doggett: “I assume, by Mr. [Paul] Ryan (R-WI) being here, that every member of this panel, including every Republican member on that side of the aisle where all the seats are vacant, received notice about this hearing about the cost of war in Iraq?”

Spratt: “I’m sure they did.”

Doggett: “And when was this notice of the hearing sent out?”

Spratt: “Seven days ago, as required by the rules.”

Not only does the White House not care about the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Republican Party doesn’t, either.

There are significant questions as to if our money is being spent well or not–corruption and wastefulness run rampant in Iraq, bloating the cost of the war to extraordinary levels.  We’re the ones funding this war, we have a right to know where our money is being spent and who it’s going.

As I said before, fiscal conservatism is dead–conservatives have shown us that they don’t mind wasting staggering amounts of the people’s money.  Nobody who supported and still supports the Iraq war can  ever claim to be fiscally responsible–Iraq alone will cost nearly $2 trillion dollars.  $2 trillion dollars of our money, needlessly spent on a pointless war in pursuit of a goal that we had little chance of accomplishing to begin with.

Of course, it’s easy to overlook the price tag when you’re spending someone else’s money…