Of Budgets, Blood and Bologna
Published December 16, 2004
Although war costs ultimately get added to the deficit, keeping them off the annual budget creates a false picture of the government's commitments at a time when Congress is making funding decisions, critics said.
Brian Reidl, an economist with the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation, said the Iraq funding should be put in the defense budget, because the Pentagon knows it will need money to pay for the operation. Leaving it out masks the true size of the deficit, he said. Wow! This is so bad that the right-wing, batshit crazy Heritage Foundation can't even figure out a way to spin this massive American screw hole.
"There's an argument to be made that [early in the year] you don't know what you'll need" for Iraq funding, Reidl said. But "there's no reason why you can't put in a place-holder to at least estimate the cost."The administration separates the Iraq funding because "it's easier to sell the budget resolution with a smaller deficit and a smaller spending total because Iraq is excluded," Reidl said.
Steve Kosiak, a defense budget specialist at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, added that "the idea is [supplementals] are supposed to be used when there is a surprise. This is no longer a surprise that we are in Iraq."
The actual cost of the military operations in Iraq is higher than any of the supplementals suggest, analysts said, because the wartime wear and tear on people and equipment will require expenditures long after the war ends.
Damn you people who got us into this. Damn you for falling into this bottomless trap set by mindless terrorists. Damn you for scaring the families, wives, husbands and friends of our military personnel, and damn you for believing that violence is a solution.
When you want to convince someone to do something what do you do? Grab a bat and slap them up-side their head or do you find ways to bribe them, speak to their hearts and minds, talk rationally with them, figure out why they don't want it your way, and massage the situation to your benefit?
The mindless hawk in this country would grab their gun or their bat as do hicks, street thugs and the insanely criminal. The rational seek out the logical path — which we are far from these days. We are neck deep in shit, debt, death and the end is still not near.
Even when the end arrives for the majority of America, we have created a cesspool of pain and agony for many in this country and the world that they will never escape.
- Of Budgets, Blood and Bologna
- Published: December 16, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Culture
- Writer: Christopher Auman
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The first link is screwed up. Copy the link to your clipboard then remove everything before the http-news-yahoo part.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=
story&cid=2027&u=/chitribts/20041212/
ts_chicagotrib/scroungingforiraqwar
putsgisinjail&printer=1
Alternatively, rebuild the link from the cut url above.
I just don't get the thinking that someone would vote for Bush when Osama shows up just before the election! That just reminds me that the administration has done such a shitty job so far -- not that we should re-elect the bastard! Again, you either have a logical mind or... well, you don't. :-)
Yes, you have a logical mind or you don't. See the thread about "Christmas is gone". A city or a business being all inclusive to all faiths and saying happy holidays has Christians up in arms that Christianity is under attack because it isn't being singled out as special. (not so much all the commenters there, but the links they provide substantiate this). If people sat down and thought about it, they would see they are wrong.
But they don't think. They believe what the Right tells them to believe and they become parrots, repeating without thought.
The article yesterday, that I cannot find said that Pakistani troops were abandoning the search for Osama because of resistance of the general populace in the areas where Osama was thought to be. No comment from the U.S. as of yet, but again, Osama is worth more to Bush free than caught. Also, when we have satellites that can read license plates from space, we don't have the technology to find that man? He can't spend 24/7 underground.
Yes, the appearance just before the election would remind people of the need for a strong leader. From equal rights for gay people destroying civilization and marriage, to terrorism and the fact that Osama is still out there, to the concept that Godless liberals want to take conservatives Bibles away, the whole thing is about keeping the populace in fear. Throughout history, it has always worked and it still works to this day.
>>That is 2,739,726 A DAY<<
Astonishing. That's not even double what the union spent per day during the final few months of the Civil War. That's some amazing bang for our buck when thought of in those terms. Of course it's also much more per soldier than the union was spending, but that's the nature of a modern army.
Oh, and the figure is also wrong. Based on the amount spent and requested and the time we've been there and the additional time money is already allocated for, the amount spent is only about $550K per day, but one doesn't expect leftists to be able to do math. BTW, that's 1/3 of what the Department of Health and Human Services spends in a day. Let's hear your proposed budget cuts for that bloated obscenity of a money pit.
Dave
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I love leftists who are passionate in their beliefs. I wish there was more of us.
One thing to consider about the war on terror is how it will change now that the election is over. I do not doubt that Bush wants to make us safer, but I did not doubt that about Kerry either. However it wasn't too hard to see that Osama being free was much more valuable to Bush as a reelection tool than if he was caught. The appearance of a video of a healthy Osama suddenly emerging just one week before election was pretty suspect to me.
I saw a headline yesterday that Pakistan was abandoning the search for Osama due to heavy resistance but cannot find the link now.
However I did find this in relation to your financial aspect of the war:
American soldiers put in jail for scrounging for armor for their vehicles
Bush's second inauguration to be most expensive in history and it's theme is going to be honoring service too.
(Watch middle America clap in approval).