Actually:
As we have noted here before, the U.S. military has largely paid for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through emergency spending measures, in effect keeping wartime costs off the books. In addition to masking skyrocketing budget growth at the Department of Defense, this process has allowed the services to treat budget supplementals as a piggy bank for new procurement. Members of Congress may have grumbled about poor oversight, but they have largely acquiesced.
Obama’s message? Not anymore.
"That is why this budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules – and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price."
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Obama: No More War Spending Tricks | Danger Room | Wired.com
Sleight-of-hand accounting practices since 2001 put the US on this course. Between the supplemental "war" budget requests, the deficit spending of two "wars" (and you can't blame this increase on personnel costs - the one cost Rummy didn't back), the outrageous military R&D costs that have yielded little or nothing in return, the black ops programs, the cost of running an entire separate prison system to avoid US law, the expansion of the Medicare drug program, and the tax breaks have given the world a new meaning to the cry "CHAARGE!" Just like too many US civilians used their homes as charge cards, the current administration ran up a humongous tab that will take several future generations to pay. Attempts by the Blue Dogs to turn around this avalanche spending spree for "Daddy's War" and address the losses in veteran's healthcare, Medicare, and education were rebuffed at every turn by Shrub and his party.
Budget analyst: Recent funding approach masks true costs of war (12/15/08) -- GovExec.com
Online NewsHour: Analysis | Bush Unveils Budget Proposal | February 5, 2007 | PBS