Friday, May 14, 2004
More sticker shock
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Iraq/Afghanistan bill for 2005 will be roughly $50 billion.
Some folks in Washington say that number is closer to $75 billion.
The Bush Administration in an attempt to cover it's ass politically had planned to ask for a mere $25 billion this year before the election. They also wanted the money to come in the form of another "blank check", giving the White House full control over the dollars spent. Wolfowitz apparently opened the door yesterday for making that point negotiable.
First of all, what happened to the $87 billion we gave them already? Our troops are lacking appropriate body armor and armored vehicles. There's also reports that the private contractors aren't holding up their end of the bargain either. Clearly that chunk of money didn't go to giving the troops the equipment they needed.
There's also the revelation from Bob Woodward's book Plan Of Attack which contends that the White House took $700 million from funds Congressionally earmarked to fight the war in Afghanistan and secretly shuffled it to secretly prep for the Iraqi invasion.
The Adminstration needs to account for the funds they've already been given before receiving more money. It's obvious that the troops need it. But we need to make sure that money is actually getting to the troops for what they need. It's obvious that during the last round of appropriations for this that it didn't happen.
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Some folks in Washington say that number is closer to $75 billion.
The Bush Administration in an attempt to cover it's ass politically had planned to ask for a mere $25 billion this year before the election. They also wanted the money to come in the form of another "blank check", giving the White House full control over the dollars spent. Wolfowitz apparently opened the door yesterday for making that point negotiable.
First of all, what happened to the $87 billion we gave them already? Our troops are lacking appropriate body armor and armored vehicles. There's also reports that the private contractors aren't holding up their end of the bargain either. Clearly that chunk of money didn't go to giving the troops the equipment they needed.
There's also the revelation from Bob Woodward's book Plan Of Attack which contends that the White House took $700 million from funds Congressionally earmarked to fight the war in Afghanistan and secretly shuffled it to secretly prep for the Iraqi invasion.
The Adminstration needs to account for the funds they've already been given before receiving more money. It's obvious that the troops need it. But we need to make sure that money is actually getting to the troops for what they need. It's obvious that during the last round of appropriations for this that it didn't happen.
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