Another $80 bil. approved for the Iraq invasion, with the total now well over $200 bil. And more will be needed by October.

Why is it these Iraq spending numbers are excluded when deriving our federal budget deficit (approximately $400 billion)? Including them would have the deficit immediately balloon by another 50%. Unlike Social Security (also excluded), which is a trust fund that's been running for 50+ years and involves no discretion from one administration to the next, going to war is by choice and one that we as taxpayers fund, so why not count it? It will eventually have to be paid off along with everything else, no? That's probably why in prior times when we've gone to war, tax cuts have never been passed, i.e. fiscal discipline and prudence rules it out.

But then we don't really have a responsible leader, do we?