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THE
COST OF WAR
By Sally Fredriksen, a Retired Fairfax County Teacher 2002
15 minute activity
Overview:
This lesson could be used with any social studies class at the immediate
or secondary level. The purpose is to make students think about what war
costs, both short term and long term, and how the money is spent. President
Bush has asked Congress for a supplemental budget of $74 billion dollars
for this war. How will it be spent? Will it be enough to cover all costs?
Background:
The President
is responsible for directing the preparation of the budget and making
the major decisions about national budget priorities. The law requires
the president to propose to Congress the budget for the entire federal
government each fiscal year. This budget must be delivered within 15 days
after Congress convenes each January. Congress reviews the president's
proposed budget, develops its own budget and approves spending and revenue
bills. In case of war or emergency, the president can ask for a supplemental
budget. The Office of Management and Budget and the president's Council
of Economic Advisers help the president with the budget. In 1974 a law
set up the House and Senate Budget Committees and the Congressional Budget
Office to keep track of the total annual budget. In 1990 the Budgetary
Enforcement Act divided the budget into three areas: domestic policy,
defense and international affairs.
Objectives:
Students will be able to (SWBAT)
- understand
what goes into paying for a war situation
- have
a new awareness of the logistics that go into the cost of a war
- have
a greater understanding of the nuances of creating a budget
Materials:
Correlation
to national standards
Procedure:
- Begin
by having students read the NewsHour
Extra story on President Bush's war budget. Explain that President
Bush has asked Congress for a war budget of $74 billion dollars for
this year alone. Ask them to think of the cost of war thus far and to
think of future costs. Allow students to begin with some ideas such
as the obvious, soldiers combat pay and then put them in small groups
and allow them to explore other ideas and place those ideas on large
paper. Allow ten minutes and have the students tape their papers around
the chalkboard.
- Come
together as a class and read the student ideas out loud and make a class
list of all original ideas. Then add to their list in areas where they
are not familiar. For example, the U.S. will contract companies to pay
to rebuild Baghdad and to control the port city of Umm Qasr. Explain
that a Seattle company, Stevedoring Services, will be paid $4.8 million
dollars to manage this important port city.
- After
the class has discussed the cost of war, hand out your list (printer-friendly
version HTML)
of what the war will cost. Answer any questions the students might have.
- If you
have more time, engage in more open-ended discussion with students.
(See possible questions below)
Discussion
Questions:
- Is war
worth the cost? Under what conditions is war worth the cost?
- Should
the United States absorb the cost of rebuilding Iraq, establishing a
democracy, and maintaining troops in Iraq long term?
Homework/Extension
Activities:
- Hand
out a Newshour with Jim Lehrer Transcript about the Cost
of the War (printer-friendly PDF)
for the class to read for homework and follow up discussion the next
class period.
- Ask interested
students to research the spending in the Gulf War (Budgetary Act of
1990) and the Vietnam War and report to the class their findings? Were
there any budget concerns during these wars? Did any laws concerning
budgets change because of these wars? What were the issues and changes?
This could be an opportunity for extra credit for an interested student.
- Ask someone
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) or the Council of Economic
Advisers (CEA) to come into the class and talk about preparing the budget,
supplemental budgets and the limits the President has in preparing the
budget such as the "uncontrollables" (expenditures required by law or
resulting from previous budgetary commitments). This would be very good
for a government class.
- Have
the students prepare a supplemental war budget. The teacher would have
to provide the "Uncontrollables and Entitlements" or give the students
an imaginary budget and some new needs for the budget and see how they
could alter the present budget to meet the President's agenda? Where
could you take money away?
What
are the Costs of War?
The government
of the U.S. must pay:
- Combat
pay for career soldiers
- The cost
of activating the reserved soldiers (President Bush wants to increase
this pay)
- The cost
of moving troops half way around the world (transportation)
- The cost
of providing food, and medical care for our troops The cost of humanitarian
cares (providing food and water to Iraqi citizens and aiding Iraqi refugees)
- The cost
of rebuilding Iraqi, establishing democracy, housing troops long term
- The cost
of soldier's dependents in case of death (includes college education
for children)
- The cost
of helping injured soldiers recover medically and helping POWS adjust
psychologically
- The cost
of arranging for the return of POWS
- The cost
of weapons, tanks, bombs, mines, aircraft, ships,etc.
- The cost
of replacing any of the above ifs lost in war
- The cost
of fuel for ships, aircraft,tanks,etc.
- The cost
of occupation
In addition
to the above, America will companies to rebuild Iraqi. There may be higher
energy costs at home. There may be recession at home. These costs are
hard to measure but exist. Economists believe that the War with Iraq could
cost as little as $50 billion and as much as $150 billion. Over a ten-year
period, it could cost anywhere from $100 billion to $600,000 Billion.
It could cost the taxpayer anywhere from $1000 to $20,000 per household
over time.
Correlations
to National Standards:
National
Council for the Social Studies:
Standard
4: What is the relationship of the United States to other nations and
to world affairs?
Standard
9: Power/Authority/Governance
Author Sally Fredriksen is a Retired Fairfax County
Teacher 2002 Certified in Social Studies and Sociology in Secondary Education
To find out more about opportunities to contribute
to this site, contact Leah Clapman at extra@newshour.org.
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