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__War Costs and Gas Prices__ President George W. Bush declared war on March 19, 2003. Because the terrorists attacked the twin towers, Bush then made the decision to fight back. People throughout the United States wonder how much it is costing us Americans to pay for it. Also, many wonder how much we will have to pay in the future for transportation. Many different resources have estimated the cost of the war. Some say that the war is costing an American household one hundred dollars a month. The cost grows by at least $200 million every day. A congressional committee calculated that the cost of the Iraq and Afgansitan wars would cost $20,900 for a family of four from 2002 to 2008. The price would go up to $46,400 from 2002 to 2017. Some predict that 2.4 trillion dollars would pay to keep 75,000 troops from 2013 to 2017. Right now, about 210,000 troops are presently deployed. Overall, the cost of the war is increasing and will continue to increase until our president decides to bring our troops home. Since the war has started, a good deal of //our// money has been used to pay with it. Some believe that our money should be going towards our children’s education. For example, it could build more schools or pay for the supplies needed to read, write, and learn. Also, more of the money we pay should be going to homes, or to repair some of the damage of Hurricane Katrina. The money we pay should help families in need of insurance or healthcare. Because of this war, we are not spending much on the resources that everyone needs in this nation. The video link below shows some examples that our money could be going to, instead of paying for the war. Over 40 percent of the money went towards military spending. Education received just over 4 percent. More money for education could’ve paid for more schools. The link below shows the budget of the war, and how much money we have paid since the Iraqi invasion. The war with Iraq has affected all Americans in one way or another, but the most complained about issue is that gasoline prices have increased since the war. Transportation will be the fastest growing oil-consuming area, and with these gas prices, and no one is looking forward to the amount of money we will have to pay. This has forced us to put more money toward transportation. Americans are complaining because they have to pay money faster by making trips anywhere; even just a simple trip a couple streets away. On the upside, this helps keeps the pollution level at a better amount. Also, the gas prices are forcing more and more people to ride their bikes, rollerblade, or most of the time, walk. Oil is really important in our economy. It comes from a range of different sources besides the Middle East, but because of the pending war, the United States economy has feared the problem of getting oil for the future and expensive it will be. If we cannot get our oil from the Middle East, we will not have other sources to turn to. From now to 2020, world oil usage will rise by about 60%. The number of cars will increase to over $1.25 billion by 2025. The total consumption of gasoline will probably double. The hyperlink below leads to a graph that shows the cost of gas prices since the OPEC Oil Emargo. Notice that since the tragedy of 9-11, gas prices have increased. The budget of the war has cost us Americans a lot of money and still more to come. Because many of the sources have estimated, they tell us that the cost of the war should go up in trillions. Also, our prime source of transportation, cars, will cost us more than we pay now. If George Bush does not take troops out from overseas, the budget will keep increasing. We will have to pay more unnecessary money than we do today. .  ·
 * [|Cost of the War Video] **
 * [|Graph of Budget] **
 * [|Graph of Gas Prices] **

Works Cited code "Current Gas Prices and Gas History." __zFacts__. 1 May 2008. 6 May 2008 . code code Gatto, Lauren. "War affects gas prices and student spending." __The Loquitur__. 25 Aug. 2007. College code code Publisher. 6 May 2008 . code code
 * Works Cited **

code code Wolk, Martin. "Cost of Iraq war could surpass $1 trillion." __msnbc__. 2008. Etrade. 5 May 2008 code code . code code

code code "War costs could total $1.6 trillion by 2009, panel estimates." __CNNPolitics.com__. 14 Nov. 2007. 6 May code code 2008 . code code code code "Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?" __National Priorities Project__. 7 May 2008 code code . code code

code code "The Future of Oil ." __Institute for Analysis of Global Security__. 2004. 6 May 2008 code  