Cost of Occupying Five US Cities with the National Guard & Marines
Trump said he wanted to eliminate government waste; his policies are nothing but waste.
As Trump continues his highly irregular practice of sending the U.S. military into Democratic cities and states, these costs will only continue to increase. But already, an independent assessment estimates the cost to date comes to $473 million—nearly half a billion dollars.
This figure represents the sum of the following per-city expenses, so far—to mobilize thousands of unnecessary National Guard troops and Marines, against the clearly stated wishes of elected state and city leaders, to the following targeted cities:
$270 million—Washington, DC
$172 million—Los Angeles, CA
$15 million—Portland, OR
$13 million—Chicago, IL
$3 million—Memphis, TN
How many meals could this provide SNAP recipients whose benefits have been cut?
How many people could this provide health insurance for?
How many children in poverty could have been taken out of poverty?
How many vets could now be NOT HOMELESS?
I could go on.
Social policy almost always comes down to simple math combined with the appetite to do the right thing.