IRAQ EATING UP DOLLARS: A new report by the Joint Economic Committee estimates that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost the average American family of four more than $20,000. The government is spending $2 billion per week to wage war in Iraq, and a Congressional Budget Office report estimated that the total cost of the war in Iraq could equal $2.4 trillion. Though the White House has asserted that it is "not worried" about the cost of war, it should be. The war is draining finite resources away from needed programs at home and abroad. Approximately $2.4 trillion is enough to "provide every college freshman in the country with a free, four year education at a private college or university; provide health care coverage to every American for one year; [or] pay off 26% of our current national debt." www.americanprogressaction.org