Page "Mitch Daniels" Paragraph 15

Conservative columnist Ross Douthat has stated that Daniels " carried water, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, for some of the Bush administration ’ s more egregious budgets made dubious public arguments in support of his boss ’ s agenda.

" Daniels was responsible for estimating the cost of the invasion of Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The operation was estimated to last six months, and did not include a projection of the long-term cost of maintaining a military presence in the region after its immediate occupation.

In 2002, Assistant to the President on Economic Policy Lawrence B. Lindsey estimated the cost at between $ 100 –$ 200 billion, much higher than Daniels ' estimate.

Daniels called Lindsey's estimate " very, very high " and stated that the costs would be between $ 50 –$ 60 billion.

President Bush ultimately requested $ 75 billion to finance the operation during the fiscal year, and according to a 2010 Congressional Research Service report, the first fiscal year of the war cost $ 51 billion.

The failure to provide long term cost estimates led opponents to claim that Daniels and the administration had suggested the entire war would cost less than $ 60 billion.

The CBO has estimated the total cost of the war in Iraq to U. S. taxpayers will be around $ 1. 9 trillion if it was carried on until 2017.