The tradeoffs are stark: Bombs or unemployment insurance for people laid off as the economy slows? Billions for Halliburton and Blackwater, or help for people on the verge of losing their homes because of the subprime meltdown?

Consider these key facts:

• The recession is going to force states to cut back their budgets. Most likely, the cuts are going to affect the services that working families need and depend on. [1] 
• Meanwhile, the war is costing Americans more than $338 million a day. [2] That money could be spent to help out the folks who're hurting most now. For less than what we're spending on the war, we could pay for affordable housing for hundreds of thousands of families, healthcare for children or scholarships to help folks pay for education. [3]
• Gas prices are close to double what they were before the war began. The cost of oil is still hovering around $100 barrel.[4]
• We're borrowing $343 million every day to finance the war in Iraq. [5] Our skyrocketing debt will be a bigger and bigger drag on the economy--slowing recovery and burdening future generations.

The truth is that economic forecasts are going to continue to be grim as long as we continue to dump billions into a reckless war that has no end in sight.