--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fifty billion dollars is the amount the…" description: "\"“Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government is estimated to have received in the first three years after the invasion to rebuild its nati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg" --- # Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government… ![“Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government is estimated to have received in the first three years after the invasion to rebuild its nation. It is also estimated to be how much money people around the globe spend on weddings every year. By my estimation, it’s a ridiculous waste of…” quote by Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg) > ““Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government is estimated to have received in the first three years after the invasion to rebuild its nation. It is also estimated to be how much money people around the globe spend on weddings every year. By my estimation, it’s a ridiculous waste of money on both accounts. If you were to amortize the cost of Liza Minnelli’s extravagant wedding to David Gest, it works out to $29,000 for each day they were married. And that doesn’t include the cost of their divorce! I guess Liza can afford it, but three and a half million dollars buys an awful lot of mascara.”” [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comparing massive government reconstruction funds to global wedding spending highlights perceived waste and misallocation of resources. **In simple terms:** Huge money spent on reconstruction and weddings seems wasteful. Key Takeaway Question spending priorities. Themes budget waste government culture media Mood critical skeptical Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - policy debates - budget planning - personal finance - media criticism Key Concepts economics public policy celebrity culture Questions to Reflect On - Is all spending on weddings wasteful? - How should reconstruction funds be allocated? A Different Perspective The comparison may oversimplify complex needs and cultural values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Billion Dollars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billion-dollars/) [Cost Liza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost-liza-5853450/) [Extravagant Wedding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extravagant-wedding-5853452/) [Half Million](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-million-511336/) [Money People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Spend Weddings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spend-weddings-5853451/) [Three years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three-years/) ## Related quotes > [In some theoretical way I know that a half-million people hear the show. But in a day-to-day way, there's not much evidence of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/in-some-theoretical-way-i-know-that-a-half-million-people-hear-the/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [The man who has half a million of dollars in property... has a much higher interest in the government, than the man who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/the-man-who-has-half-a-million-of-dollars-in-property-has-a-much/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Woodstock is well known because this country is so hyped on amount. It was big. Half a million people doesn't necessarily mean something is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-slick/woodstock-is-well-known-because-this-country-is-so-hyped-on-amount-it/) [Grace Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-slick/) > [I'll fight anyone for enough money. Give me half a million dollars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-ambrose/i-ll-fight-anyone-for-enough-money-give-me-half-a-million-dollars/) [Dean Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-ambrose/) > [Turn that 62 to 125, 125 to 250, 250 to half a million, ain't nothing nobody can do with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/turn-that-62-to-125-125-to-250-250-to-half-a-million-ain-t-nothing/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [Right,' said Kai, 'that'll be no problem in a city of two and a half million people. Let me just go dig out my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/right-said-kai-that-ll-be-no-problem-in-a-city-of-two-and-a-half/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Half a million dollar car. Half a million dollar watch. No roof on the Drophead. Phantom It got karate chopped...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludacris/half-a-million-dollar-car-half-a-million-dollar-watch-no-roof-on-the/) [Ludacris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludacris/) > [“Probably between half a million and eight hundred thousand in all were killed in Punjab in 1947.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajmohan-gandhi/probably-between-half-a-million-and-eight-hundred-thousand-in-all/) [Rajmohan Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajmohan-gandhi/) > [Never hate a song that's sold a half million copies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-berlin/never-hate-a-song-that-s-sold-a-half-million-copies/) [Irving Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-berlin/) > [The CIO put up half a million dollars for Roosevelt's 1936 campaign and provided him with an immense group of active labor workers who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/the-cio-put-up-half-a-million-dollars-for-roosevelt-s-1936-campaign/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [It is tough being patient when you are more than a half million dollars in debt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-menzel/it-is-tough-being-patient-when-you-are-more-than-a-half-million/) [Peter Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-menzel/) > [I pay myself three, three and half million - which is plenty of money, c'mon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-schnatter/i-pay-myself-three-three-and-half-million-which-is-plenty-of-money-c/) [John Schnatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-schnatter/) > [“been read by half a million people and the Washington Post has called her “One of”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-kevin/been-read-by-half-a-million-people-and-the-washington-post-has-called/) [Lucy Kevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-kevin/) > [Half a million dollars just to upgrade the car show I aint even detonate the bombs in the arsenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/half-a-million-dollars-just-to-upgrade-the-car-show-i-aint-even/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [I was, like, 22 years old. I had half a million dollars sitting in the bank. I had no expenses. Life was great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-shrem/i-was-like-22-years-old-i-had-half-a-million-dollars-sitting-in-the/) [Charlie Shrem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-shrem/) ## More by Annabelle Gurwitch > [“Being an atheist had never stopped me from enjoying the ritual, community singing, gay friendly and general do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you sentiment of the school’s chapel services,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/being-an-atheist-had-never-stopped-me-from-enjoying-the-ritual/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“recent survey indicated that people who’ve had plastic surgery appeared to have shed only three years on average off of their age. Which three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/recent-survey-indicated-that-people-who-ve-had-plastic-surgery/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“It's also at that moment that I realize I am able to maintain the level of judgmentalness that I so cherish only because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/it-s-also-at-that-moment-that-i-realize-i-am-able-to-maintain-the/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“Jeff and I signed a Jewish marriage contract, a ketubah, promising to cherish each other in the "way that Jewish men and women had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/jeff-and-i-signed-a-jewish-marriage-contract-a-ketubah-promising-to/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“I have no idea what the future looks like but I can still dive in and I intend to keep doing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/i-have-no-idea-what-the-future-looks-like-but-i-can-still-dive-in-and/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can’t see anything wrong with each other.” —RENE YASENEK”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/kissing-is-a-means-of-getting-two-people-so-close-together-that-they-2/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“There’s a saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” but it should be amended to add “. . . or in penitentiaries.”\* If I am ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/there-s-a-saying-there-are-no-atheists-in-foxholes-but-it-should-be/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“I was beginning to understand why marriage “experts” like to say that if a couple gets through the first year of marriage they stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/i-was-beginning-to-understand-why-marriage-experts-like-to-say-that/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“Charles Darwin came to marriage with some trepidation. Of course he studied it carefully, cataloging the pluses and minuses of the connubial state. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/charles-darwin-came-to-marriage-with-some-trepidation-of-course-he/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“When I was twelve, my sixth-grade English class went on a field trip to see Franco Zeffirelli’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/when-i-was-twelve-my-sixth-grade-english-class-went-on-a-field-trip/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) > [“So, fuck you, fifty, I own you. You're my bitch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/so-fuck-you-fifty-i-own-you-you-re-my-bitch/) [Annabelle Gurwitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) [Explore all 12 Annabelle Gurwitch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/) ## More Politics quotes > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/) [Davan Yahya Khalil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davan-yahya-khalil/) > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) > [“Jim Reston: Walking through the crowds of air-kissing politicians, actors and high fliers, it was tough to tell where the politics stopped and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/jim-reston-walking-through-the-crowds-of-air-kissing-politicians/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [The notion of a non-religious Christmas is ridiculous. But so is the insistence on the part of Christians that politicians and retailers carry out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/the-notion-of-a-non-religious-christmas-is-ridiculous-but-so-is-the/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [A man who kills on his own is a murderer. A man who kills at his government's request is a national hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramman-kenoun/a-man-who-kills-on-his-own-is-a-murderer-a-man-who-kills-at-his/) [Ramman Kenoun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramman-kenoun/) > [Politics in Philadelphia is a contact sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nutter/politics-in-philadelphia-is-a-contact-sport/) [Michael Nutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nutter/) [Browse all 44,914 Politics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government is estimated to have received in the first three years after the invasion to rebuild its nation. It is also estimated to be how much money people around the globe spend on weddings every year. By my estimation, it’s a ridiculous waste of money on both accounts. If you were to amortize the cost of Liza Minnelli’s extravagant wedding to David Gest, it works out to $29,000 for each day they were married. And that doesn’t include the cost of their divorce! I guess Liza can afford it, but three and a half million dollars buys an awful lot of mascara.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Annabelle Gurwitch" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the-iraqi-government-is-estimated/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Politics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the-iraqi-government-is-estimated/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/annabelle-gurwitch-37424_politics_fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the_3185322.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fifty billion dollars is the amount the Iraqi government is estimated to have received in the first three…” — Annabelle Gurwitch", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Annabelle Gurwitch", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-gurwitch/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Fifty billion dollars is the amount...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the-iraqi-government-is-estimated/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-gurwitch/fifty-billion-dollars-is-the-amount-the-iraqi-government-is-estimated/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```