For the price of the Iraq War, we could've given Joe the Plumber and each other US plumber, pipefitter, and steamfitter the monthly earnings of Roto-Rooter, the largest plumbing and drain cleaning company in America.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 435,010 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in America. The plumbers and pipe fitters union was one of the first to endorse Barack Obama. Roto-Rooter is the largest plumbing and drain cleaning company in America, reporting earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes, and amortization of $15.9 million in the first quarter of 2008, or $5.3 million per month. Giving the monthly earnings of Roto-Rooter to each US plumber would cost $2.31 trillion, $690 billion less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of $3 trillion for the total cost of the Iraq War.
