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You picked the far most expensive states. That’s going to lead to a biased result that’s too high. I’d say it’s probably $200b a year or so, which isn’t nothing I’ll admit.

Also the two largest states with the highest unemployment rates. Look at the list Blood of Tyrants posted. Illinois is up over $500 a week and we have great sucking unemployment here. Big states with high unemployment rats skew the numbers. California, Illinois, and New York make up one quarter of the US population and all have unemployment rates 5% or more above the national average. Unfortunately those are also the ones with the high payouts.

I'm going to stick with the approximately $300 billion number. And half the US military budget isn't a drop in the bucket, no matter how you slice it. And it is going to fall disproportionately on states that are already on the verge of economic collapse. There will need to be tax increases to pay for it, despite your assurances to the contrary.

I would like to see the actual #’s, not vague estimates. They said 3 months of extension would be $36b, so it’s closer to my #’s if we go by that.

I’m also a believer in cutting taxes to increase revenue when possible, so I don’t believe raises are necessary now. Cutting the corporate taxes would increase jobs and revenue at this point for instance.