Linda Bilmes at Brave New Films

The Three Trillion Dollar Shopping Spree

2008-10-29T15:31:24Z

The cost of the Iraq War is a grave issue. We are committed to spreading awareness about the devastating financial toll the war is taking on each and every one of us, let alone our economy.

$3 trillion. That is what Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates the war will cost our country. Make no mistake, this $3 trillion bill is crippling our economy and causing our Iraq recession. To put this colossal amount of cash into perspective, we've designed a game to help people really understand what $3 trillion dollars can buy.

Get ready to go on a 3 Trillion Dollar Shopping Spree!

When the war was already hurting our economy two years ago, President Bush announced that Americans should go shopping—a brilliant plan to remedy our ailing economy. So follow the President's advice in this virtual shopping bonanza and rack up a $3 trillion tab like he has in real life. All you have to do is stroll down through our online store, add items to your cart for yourself or friends, and check out. It's just that easy!

Whether you buy serious gifts like healthcare for all Americans or frivolous ones like building the world's tallest building, we hope you'll begin to see just how far $3 trillion could go and help others understand the cost of this war.

This "game" is designed to build further awareness, and we need your help to make that happen, just as you have done on previous successful campaigns from FOX Attacks to the War on Greed to Hurricane Katrina recovery.

Please buy gifts for your all your friends and loved ones, and send them e-mails to let them know you've found better ways to spend our nation's money than the President. We need to help Americans understand the war's economic toll.

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The True Cost of the Iraq War

2008-10-22T21:31:34Z

Anyone remember back to January 2003, right before we invaded Iraq? Rumsfeld said the cost of this war would be under $50 billion, and that other countries would probably shoulder a lot of that financial burden.

Well, as it turns out, when Rummy said "$50 billion," he actually meant $3 trillion and counting. And when he said "other countries," he meant U.S. taxpayers.

Joseph Stieglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has estimated that the total cost of this war will be $3 trillion dollars, which he claims is a conservative estimate. And though the Bush administration has stuck to the assertion that war has only cost us $500 billion, Reuters asserts that this cost is still sapping our economy:

Crisis in Veterans Health and Disabilty Pt-2

2008-10-19T09:31:45Z

June 11, 2007 - Gainesville, Florida.
PART 2 of 2 PARTS:

Researcher, Linda Bilmes has testified before congress on the growing crisis in Veterans Health Care and disability benefits. Delays in benefits are contributing to added injury, alcoholism, divorce, suicide and homelessness of discharged veterans who are encountering an overload of paperwork, delays, mistakes and other needless hardships at a time when they are most vulnerable.

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Crisis in Veterans Health and Disabilty Pt-1

2008-10-19T09:31:22Z

June 11, 2007 - Gainesville, Florida.
PART 1 of 2 PARTS:

Watch the video