A report released yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office has found that the costs of the Iraq War continue to rise each year. The spending--which has largely been supported by West Michigan Representative Vern Ehlers and Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow--totaled $171 billion last year. This is an increase of $51 billion since 2006. For 2008, the Bush administration has requested an additional $198 billion.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, since September 11, 2001, Congress has allotted $691 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of that amount, $440 billion has gone to pay for the Iraq War. Thus far, President George W. Bush has opposed raising taxes to pay for the war, meaning that the money has been added to the national debt. Overall, the national debt has gone from $5.6 trillion when Bush took office to $9 trillion today.

Underscoring the increase in costs is the complete failure of Congress to take any meaningful steps towards ending the war. The Democratic Party--elected on what was largely an antiwar vote in 2006--has been unable to make any progress on ending the war. While they blame Republicans for blocking their efforts, in reality it has more to do with an unwillingness to take bold stances. Even among the Democratic Party candidates for president, none of the candidates are seriously talking about ending the war.

When it comes to legislators representing West Michigan, there is a similar unwillingness to address the war. Representative Ehlers continues to support the war, arguing that while he had doubts about it before the invasion--a statement that isn't exactly true--we must now continue in Iraq. This has translated into continued votes in favor of funding the war. Michigan's Senators--Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow--continue to vote to fund the war (http://www.mediamouse.org/features/121807west_.php) as we well. Levin, who passes as "antiwar" in many circles, similarly continues to blame the Iraqis for violence in the country and has engineered various "compromises" between Democrats and the Bush administration. For her part, Senator Stabenow has voted for funding increases and has largely supported the ongoing war.