News Summary

WASHINGTON — The war in Iraq, thus far, has cost the United States $456 billion.

It has cost Ohio $16 billion. It has cost Dayton $156 million, Greene County $247 million, Montgomery County $772.4 million.

So says a study from the National Priorities Project, a Massachusetts-based nonpartisan organization that aims to bring home the realities of federal spending for taxpayers.

It has broken down the $456 trillion price tag for the war using a complex equation involving what cities and states contribute to the federal coffers, median household income and other factors.

Their figures aren't necessarily aimed at providing judgment, says communications director Pamela Schwartz.

"What it is above all is a vehicle to help voters and citizens understand the magnitude of these numbers," she said.

Their study offers something to chew on as Congress and President Bush wrestle over whether to approve a $124.3 billion supplemental funding bill that would provide even more money for the war in Iraq. The two are at a standoff; Bush has vowed to veto any spending bill that includes a timeline to get out of Iraq, and Congress has vowed that they won't pass a bill without such a timeline.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, meanwhile, has lamented that the supplemental spending bills Congress has begun passing annually are not included in the federal budget. It's not honest accounting, he says.

So what are Congress and the president really debating?

According to the National Priorities Project, what Congress has funded so far breaks down to $4,100 contributed by every American household, $1,500 for every American, $11 million per hour and $275 million per day.

Then there is the human cost.

When their study was published in mid-March, 3,195 U.S. soldiers — 141 from Ohio — had died in the war. Twenty-three thousand U.S. soldiers had been wounded. Nine-hundred and ninety six of them were from Ohio.

In Ohio's 3rd Congressional District, represented by Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, which includes most of Montgomery County and Warren counties as well as Highland and Clinton counties, taxpayers have ponied up $897.12 million, according to the project.

That money could've paid for health care for 127,549 children during the length of the Iraq war, they say. It could've built 8,367 affordable housing units. It could've built 81 elementary schools.

Next door, taxpayers from Rep. John Boehner's 8th Congressional District contributed $943.75 million, according to the report.

In Rep. David Hobson's 7th Congressional District, they gave $932.87 million.

In Rep. Jim Jordan's 4th Congressional District, they gave $864.61 million.

And in Rep. Jean Schmidt's 2nd District? $1.01 billion.

Those congressmen universally united against the most recent war supplemental, citing the timeline and millions of dollars in pork stuffed in the bill to help it pass.

When Congress comes back from its Easter recess, the debate over what to do with the current supplemental spending bill will resume. For most taxpayers, the dollar figures are too mammoth to even comprehend. The folks at the National Priorities Project want taxpayers to know what $124.3 billion — and all the money approved before it — really means.