The Iraq War has cost us ~$6,000,000,000,000 (that's ~$17k per US citizen).
Under Obama's plan, that money could be used to pay for two years of community college for every student willing to do the require work for the next 1000 years!
Of course we shouldn't "buy everything that's cheaper than the Iraq war", but that's not what is being argued. This was just to show a contrast between two ~10-year projects. It doesn't take a lot of work to figure out which investment has a higher return.
Just because it cannot be measured does not mean it doesn't have value.
As a European I am exceedingly glad the US got involved in WWII, since otherwise the Soviets would have won, but how do you put a prize on my freedom and the freedom of future generations?
Under Obama's plan, that money could be used to pay for two years of community college for every student willing to do the require work for the next 1000 years!
Of course we shouldn't "buy everything that's cheaper than the Iraq war", but that's not what is being argued. This was just to show a contrast between two ~10-year projects. It doesn't take a lot of work to figure out which investment has a higher return.