Would the "war bonds" be a good idea for financing the war in Iraq instead of raising our taxes?

Question

The US government spent about 400 billion dollars of borrowed money for the war in Iraq. This is our (future) tax money because we will have to pay back the borrowed money. Even a Republican president will have to raise taxes to pay back 400 billion. Wouldn't it be better to issue government bonds to pay for the war? This way it could be financed by those who feel like paying for it (later the government would pay back those bonds with interest).

Answer 1

in theory but nobody will buy them to support this war.

Answer 2

News flash! We never have to pay that money back. Ever!

Our country has run a deficit and debt almost our entire history. It's never been paid back yet and we're doing just fine. We simply roll it over when the principal payment is due.

All we have to do is worry that we can pay the interest on the national debt. In 1996, it took 14% of our tax revenues to do so. In 2006, it took 10%, despite all the new debt we racked up. How can this be? Because even with tax cuts, our tax revenues have swelled faster than the new interest on the new debt.

AS for your idea about war bonds, we are already financing it through debt, what's the difference whether we call it a war bond or 30 year treasury bond. It's all national debt.

Answer 3

War bonds rely, for their success, on the willingness of people to voluntarily buy them. During WW2, the government knew that most people supported the war, and were willing to sacrifice something so that the Allies might prevail. I do not believe that there is necessarily the same sentiment regarding Iraq.

Some people oppose the war, just because it is a war.

Some people oppose the war, because they are blinded by their dislike for Bush.

Some people see the Iraqi situation as an occupation, not a war. They disagree with the occupation, because they know that the only way to successfully occupy a hostile civiilian population is with a level of brutality that nearly all Americans would find barbaric and unacceptable. They don't want brutality, and they don't want needless waste of the lives and health of the men and women in America's armed forces. This is my own position.

So. The government does not offer war bonds, because (assuming they thought of the idea at all) they know that too few people will buy them.

Answer 4

Where do you think the government gets the money pay the interest on those bonds, slick? It doesn't matter who buys the bonds, it matters who has to pay them back.