[Rhodes22-list] Cost of the war and the nation debt

[Bud]

The cost of the war is around $350B, with the President asking for 
another 74B.
Let's say (for the sake of argument) that we end up spending $500B on 
the war.
To me, this is an impressive achievement, in that it demonstrates we as 
a nation
can allocate a large sum of money for one cause.  Which brings me to my 
point -
if we can spend $500B (over what 5 years?) then surely we can start to 
pay down
the national debt - which should take about 70 years at the rate of 100B 
a year.
I don't know about you, but I haven't felt a noticeable amount of burden 
or pain
paying for the war.  Yes, I know all that money could have been spent on 
goods
and services elsewhere.  But if this is what paying down the national 
debt would
feel like - then I am all for it.

-Bud
ps - of course, we will also have to balance the budget.