Among The Costs Of War: $20B In Air Conditioning

Air conditioners keep tents cool on a U.S. military base in Iraq. The tents have been treated with polyurethane foam to increase energy efficiency.

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion.

That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for damage during the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia.

"When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most isolated places in the world — escorting, command and control, medevac support — when you throw all that infrastructure in, we're talking over $20 billion," Steven Anderson tells weekends on All Things Considered guest host Rachel Martin. Anderson is a retired brigadier general who served as Gen. David Patreaus' chief logistician in Iraq.

Why does it cost so much?

To power an air conditioner at a remote outpost in land-locked Afghanistan, a gallon of fuel has to be shipped into Karachi, Pakistan, then driven 800 miles over 18 days to Afghanistan on roads that are sometimes little more than "improved goat trails," Anderson says. "And you've got risks that are associated with moving the fuel almost every mile of the way."

Anderson calculates more than 1,000 troops have died in fuel convoys, which remain prime targets for attack. Free-standing tents equipped with air conditioners in 125 degree heat require a lot of fuel. Anderson says by making those structures more efficient, the military could save lives and dollars.

Still, his $20.2 billion figure raises stark questions about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. In the wake of President Obama's announcement this week that about 30,000 American troops will soon return home, how much money does the U.S. stand to save?

Budget Crunch Forces A New Approach To Prisons

by Carrie Johnson

Budget problems are forcing states and the federal government to rethink their approach to prisons. More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and the cost is getting unbearable.

Even conservatives who describe themselves as tough on crime are starting to call for the release of some inmates. That's in part because the numbers are speaking louder than ever.

States spend about $50 billion a year to house prisoners, and experts say incarceration is the fastest-growing expense in state budgets, except for Medicaid.

It costs 23 times as much to have somebody behind the walls as it does in the community, and I think that disparity is what's becoming compelling.

Oilfield Math

This is the way ALL the current administration's policies SHOULD be explained.....


Oilfield Math

Think of it this way:

A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year.

A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.

They claim 700,000 vehicles so that's 224 million gallons saved per year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption.

More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars

So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million.

We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though

My appendics and I .... 60 years ago

Did we have health care back in the 30's and 40's? I had my appendix out in June, 1950, I am not sure how it got paid, I suppose my family paid for it. I don't even know if they had health care insurance then. I remember Blue Cross and Blue Shield, their home office was a rather small building in Columbus, Ohio.

I remember I had an ache in my stomach, my Dad, who was a Doctor, poked me, made a phone call, and took me to the hospital. He wanted a surgeon, Dr. Harry Houston, who Dad had known for man years, to do the operation. He had actually lived at our house for a short time while he was full filling his residency at Miami Valley Hospital, and he and Dad were old friends.

He was a Captain in the Navy, during the war, and was one of the most respected surgeons in the Navy. He worked on some high ranking officers, official and politicians while in the service.

My Dad trusted Harry, with his son.

Harry was a very busy surgeon, he had a tight Monday morning schedule. My pre-surgery preparation, due to the hospital being busy, was done in a large storage room, and my Dad did the prep work, shaving the area, etc. I still remember his shaking hand approaching my abdomen with that Gillette razor. It was different working on your own.

Harry sandwiched me in between operations, removed my appendix, my recovery room was a broom closet, and then I was taken back to my room. I think, then, I was in the hospital for a few days, recovering, which they don't do now.

I was taken home, recuperated a few days, and I remember my Dad taking out my stitches. I was lying on the couch in the living room. He removed them with an old Gillette blue blade and the tweezers out of the bathroom.

"This won't hurt," zip, zip, zip, zip, zip and it was all over.

I imagine today, I would need X-rays, Cat scans, much more sophisticated blood work, two or three specialists, the hospital chaplain would visit me, after I arrived at the hospital, and was driven to the door by the "Courtesy" Van, through all the shrubs and flowers surrounding the building.

I have no idea the cost, but I am sure it was very little, and this was a special case. My guess, a few hundred dollars.

Now, today, an example I found on the Internet, at Stanford Hospital, in 2008, an insurance bill shows: $515 for emergency service, $694 for diagnostics (probably the CT scans), $2486 for anesthesia, $2485 for the actual surgery procedure, and then of course, they put you in a room for at least one day or two, and room & board for that stay cost $41,194.

Now, the do a laproscopic procedure, very short stay. Here is one example I found.

My total bill is $24,417.28 for a routine appendectomy and very short hospital stay.

Technology is great, but comes at a VERY high price.

I wonder why medical costs are so high.

A point of view .... on medical insurance and care

A comment on health care, my opinion, why the costs have soared.

My Dad was a general practitioner, home and office together. He had a nurse and an office manager. He took care of many problems, right in his office, or in the home. He even had a small pharmacy where he dispensed some pills and syrups. He didn't have to write many expensive prescriptions.

If he needed more done, he had Miami Valley Hospital not too far away, they had an operating room, x-ray machine, lab, and at that time they were state of the art. A fine hospital. I am sure they had other equipment, but not sure what it was.

He even made house calls in the morning, and took care of those who could not make it in to the office, or the hospital. I often rode with him in the car on his house call rounds. I even got my drivers license when I was 14, so I could drive him around. In those days, doctor's kids, as well as farmers kids, could get an early license.

When he retired from practice, in the early 60's Blue Shield of Ohio wanted him to travel the state of Ohio, to go around to various county medical societies, and implore, beg, whatever, the doctors to NOT abuse their health insurance system. He gave up after a couple of years, knowing it was of no use.

That is when costs started mushrooming. Insurance was going to pay for it, so do more tests, send to specialists, more tests, more tests, more tests, more expensive tests, more expensive procedures. Those were the days when you speculated the sex of a baby, and it was a surprise. You purchased yellow clothes, not pink or blue.

If he was in practice today he would probably have to have a staff of eight or ten, or more just to take care of the paperwork. Do you get better care today? My Dad knew the names of his patients, took care of their family, delivered their babies, knew their family history, and was a family friend. Personal medical attention, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. He was Doc, to them. And, I might add, he wore a suit, white shirt and a tie, and was held in high esteem by his patients, who had great respect for him. I had a doctor come to my room at the hospital, in jeans and tennis shoes. That operation probably cost more than my Dad made some early years of his practice.

In 1943, he sold his practice, and went into obstetrics in the Fidelity Building in downtown Dayton, Ohio. He had perhaps one of the largest practices in the city, and still had a nurse and an office manager. I am not sure of what he charged for the entire cost, office visits, delivery, etc., all of his books are lost, but it was not very much. Probably not a lot more than one office visit today. Think of the staff an OBGYN doctor has today.

Blame the physicians for high costs, blame technology for new equipment that all hospitals have to have now days, and all the employees they need to operate that equipment and blame the judicial system, that makes it mandatory that the Doctor has to use every test and procedure, just to protect himself, and for making malpractice insurance so costly.

All those advances have made it possible for us to live longer, and create a whole new problem, elder care. My Dad treated many elderly people, who lived long lives, and were taken care of by their families, and their General Practitioner Doctor, who came to their homes, knew their family history, knew their names, and doubled as their friend.