Ending Endless Wars
I’m a combat Veteran. I’ve seen the toll—on our minds, our marriages, and our children. Twenty years of “forever wars” didn’t make America safer, but they did drain our treasury and our people. Independent scholars at Brown University’s Costs of War project estimate the post-9/11 wars have cost roughly $8 trillion when you include operations, interest, and care for Veterans.
What that $8 trillion could have done here at home?
Erase student debt—four times over. Total U.S. student loans are about $1.814 trillion. $8T could have cleared every borrower’s balance more than 4×.
Pay off ~32 million family mortgages. The average mortgage balance is about $252,505. $8T is enough to retire roughly 31.7 million average mortgages.
End homelessness—many times over. Providing “Housing First” to every sheltered homeless household in a year is estimated at $8.2B; broader estimates to eliminate homelessness nationwide range $11–$30B per year. Even a small slice of war spending would cover that for decades.
Rebuild America, repeatedly. The ASCE says bringing U.S. infrastructure up to good repair needs about $9.1 trillion. Our war tab is on that same order of magnitude. Imagine those dollars poured into roads, bridges, water systems, ports, and broadband—with American workers on American projects.
My Policy
Define the mission or don’t deploy. No open-ended authorizations. Sunsets and specific objectives for any use of force.
Audit the Pentagon. Pass/fail budget audit with clawbacks for waste; redirect savings to domestic priorities.
Put America First at home:
Veterans First Fund: guaranteed same-day mental-health access, claims cleared in 30 days, and lifetime toxic-exposure care. Paid for by retiring overseas operations that don’t meet strict mission tests.
Student Debt Freedom Act: apply the first $500B in realized savings to principal reduction for borrowers (prioritizing low- and middle-income).ti
Homes, Not Tents Plan: fully fund Housing First and supportive services nationwide; goal: functional zero homelessness in 5 years. Annual cost $11–$30B—a fraction of what we burn on endless wars.
Rebuild the Republic: a 10-year infrastructure surge aligned with the $9.1T ASCE gap—union jobs, Buy American rules, and apprenticeships for Veterans.