Bush to seek $100 bln more war funds-US House report

[Secret Squirrel]

President George W. Bush will soon seek about $100 billion in additional emergency funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report on Wednesday by Democratic staffers for two key panels in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Such a large request would mark a rapid escalation in the cost of the Iraq war at a time when public support is plummeting and Bush is looking for new answers to stem violence that threatens to spin out of control.

In a broad report criticizing Republicans' fiscal decisions, Democratic staffers on the House Appropriations Committee and House Budget Committee also noted that Congress already had appropriated about $379 billion for the war in Iraq.

"The administration is expected to submit an additional request early next year that will total roughly $100 billion. At least three-quarters of this request will support operations in Iraq," according to the report.

If the White House asks for the $100 billion, it would be significantly less than the $130 billion the Pentagon preliminarily requested recently, according to several accounts.

The emergency funds, which likely would be submitted by Bush to Congress in early February, would be in addition to $70 billion already approved for the two wars in the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1.

Senior Democrats, who take control of both houses of Congress next year, have indicated they would support additional funds for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though many want a phased withdrawal to begin in 2007.

The $100 billion, if submitted and approved by Congress next year, would be in addition to the record $447 billion the Pentagon is receiving this fiscal year for all military operations.

The House Democrats' report, titled "The Republican Legacy: Bad Budgeting Creates Burdens For Years To Come," said that despite significant increases in the Pentagon's budget, "The war in Iraq has left the U.S. Army's readiness at its lowest level in decades."

"Republicans have spent years handing out billions upon billions of dollars in tax cuts to millionaires while shortchanging our national priorities," said Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

"It is going to take us years to get back on track."

The report, co-authored by aides to Democratic Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina, the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee, criticized the administration for resorting to emergency spending requests to finance the war instead of budgeting for it on a longer-term basis.

"The administration often does not submit supplemental requests until well after the Army needs the funding to pay for ongoing operations," the report stated. "As a result, the Army is forced to delay certain activities, such as maintenance of equipment, until supplemental appropriations are approved."

The White House has defended its use of emergency funding requests, saying it is too difficult to project future war costs in time for annual budget submissions to Congress. It also says it does not want to build such big costs into the Pentagon budget for fear that military brass will come to expect the added funding even after the war ends.

link (http://today.*******.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-12-13T230303Z_01_N13170850_RTRIDST_0_IRAQ-USA-FUNDING.XML&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArt-C1-ArticlePage1)
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[Mr. JOSHUA]

........Just like giving a contractor more money even though he's not even

finished and the work he has done is really f**king shotty.....

[annihilation]

It just keeps on adding up, I wonder what will be the final total from his mistake.

[Jobu]

Whatever it takes to win, spend it.

[annihilation]

Whatever it takes to win, spend it.

We haven't really been making progress to any goal in the past few years.

The 500 billion we so far have spent on Iraq could have been better spent getting us primarly off of foreign oil. That would have been a bigger blow to our enemies than what he have done so far. We should have been trying to do that after the oil embargo of the 70's (but thats not carter fault but more reagans), and we should have definitly been doing that after 9/11.

[Mr. JOSHUA]

We haven't really been making progress to any goal in the past few years.

The 500 billion we so far have spent on Iraq could have been better spent getting us primarly off of foreign oil. That would have been a bigger blow to our enemies than what he have done so far. We should have been trying to do that after the oil embargo of the 70's (but thats not carter fault but more reagans), and we should have definitly been doing that after 9/11.


True, but do you really believe the democrats or the cooky left enviromentalist would lets us drill where the gov't knows there is oil?

Do you think the major automobile co's and big oil would let Bush come up with alternatives to oil?

What is it called? A stalemate?

[Jobu]

We haven't really been making progress to any goal in the past few years.

The 500 billion we so far have spent on Iraq could have been better spent getting us primarly off of foreign oil. That would have been a bigger blow to our enemies than what he have done so far. We should have been trying to do that after the oil embargo of the 70's (but thats not carter fault but more reagans), and we should have definitly been doing that after 9/11.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

We are in it now and the only thing to do is win. You don't commit your armed services to battle and risk their lives if you're not willing to do what it takes to win.

[Createdeemcee]

........Just like giving a contractor more money even though he's not even

finished and the work he has done is really f**king shotty.....


I hope they tell him no. Then make iraqis and Afghani's sell girl scout cookies for their own ****. Sad that this will be money with no phyisical items/ or out comes. Much like the air we will never see again. BUsh is such a Fluck face!

[Createdeemcee]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

We are in it now and the only thing to do is win. You don't commit your armed services to battle and risk their lives if you're not willing to do what it takes to win.

There no light at the end of this tunnel. The only way to win any of these wars is to give everyone a lie detector test who lives in the country, then seperate the problem causers from people who want a real future. I know that would be timely. But would have cost way less in dollars and lives lost. these ied's will never stop.

[Ivan le Fou]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

We are in it now and the only thing to do is win. You don't commit your armed services to battle and risk their lives if you're not willing to do what it takes to win.


Wining isn't the only solution, you may also loose.

[Hellfish]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

We are in it now and the only thing to do is win. You don't commit your armed services to battle and risk their lives if you're not willing to do what it takes to win.

Thought I've been opposed to the war from the very beginning, Jobu's right. I don't think we should cut and run. If we'd do, we'd go from making a mistake to causing a disaster.

That said, I'd love to know where the hell all this money is going to. The Army's got thousands of vehicles that are deadlined, no major purchases have been made lately (save for the AF and Navy) and the Iraqis aren't substantially larger or better equipped than they were last year.

$100 billion is a LOT of money.

[annihilation]

True, but do you really believe the democrats or the cooky left enviromentalist would lets us drill where the gov't knows there is oil?

Do you think the major automobile co's and big oil would let Bush come up with alternatives to oil?

What is it called? A stalemate?

Im one of those enviromentalist lefties that wont let him drill. Why you ask, because they haven't proven that they deserve to tap the artic wild life refuge. Not when in his first year in office he signed a bill to ban off shore oil rigs off the coast of flordia (new rigs) for his brother. Plus he didn't provide a good enough energy plan. His plan was just to produce more energy, to drill more to tap more. It never mentioned anything about making efficiences in the system. Didn't list increasing car mpg rating or promoting alternative energy sources. I read once, if the average vehicle in the US would add another 3 mpg to their rating, we would save 1 million barrels of oil a day.

So why would I want to allow the government to drill for more oil if there plan calls for nothing else but more oil to be produced. If now they had a comprehensive plan that allowed conservatin, more efficiencies, then I would be all for tapping more oil just to add help ease us off foreign oil.

[annihilation]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

We are in it now and the only thing to do is win. You don't commit your armed services to battle and risk their lives if you're not willing to do what it takes to win.

Tell that to the adminstration, they came up with the post iraq plan. I'm all for winning here, one way or another. Either we leave Iraq with a working government and people united or we leave an Iraq with no one alive. One way or another there needs to be peace in Iraq, just the question of will there be people in there or not.

[annihilation]

Thought I've been opposed to the war from the very beginning, Jobu's right. I don't think we should cut and run. If we'd do, we'd go from making a mistake to causing a disaster.

That said, I'd love to know where the hell all this money is going to. The Army's got thousands of vehicles that are deadlined, no major purchases have been made lately (save for the AF and Navy) and the Iraqis aren't substantially larger or better equipped than they were last year.

$100 billion is a LOT of money.

salary, halliburton.....like that crook thread going around, soldiers are over paid. (j/k)

[Apathy]

Why not make Iraq into a federation?

[XShipRider]

If I had to guess, Congress just might blow off this expenditure until next
session. Then this will be shaved and trimmed to the tune of about $20B
just to make some political points.

Who loses in the end? The maintenance folks, they'll end up deferring
badly needed maintenance, extending hours and cycles on equipment
to the nth degree, until the funds become available.

Dump a couple of high ticket items from the budget to pay for the war.

[ElHombre]

Whatever it takes to win, spend it.

And how are we supposed to pay for it? That $100 billion has to be borrowed now and paid back with interest, you know.

[annihilation]

And how are we supposed to pay for it? That $100 billion has to be borrowed now and paid back with interest, you know.

Don't forget to the Chinese!!!

[Maskirovka]

We haven't really been making progress to any goal in the past few years.

The 500 billion we so far have spent on Iraq could have been better spent getting us primarly off of foreign oil. That would have been a bigger blow to our enemies than what he have done so far. We should have been trying to do that after the oil embargo of the 70's (but thats not carter fault but more reagans), and we should have definitly been doing that after 9/11.

What do you mean? The goal was to destroy all of Saddams WMD´s. It has been done! With Saddam in jail he could´nt possibly produce any nuclearweapons now can he? Offcourse, it would have been a lot cheaper to just listen to the rest of the world and let the UN-guys having to search and destroy all of his remaining chemicalweapons (and it would have saved 1000's of US. soldiers lives). But USA just wanted to be shure he did´nt have any, and now they are! Is´nt that great, whats a few 100´s of billions and a few thousands of KIA´s for a pricetag for such a worthy cause?

[annihilation]

What do you mean? The goal was to destroy all of Saddams WMD´s. It has been done! With Saddam in jail he could´nt possibly produce any nuclearweapons now can he? Offcourse, it would have been a lot cheaper to just listen to the rest of the world and let the UN-guys having to search and destroy all of his remaining chemicalweapons (and it would have saved 1000's of US. soldiers lives). But USA just wanted to be shure he did´nt have any, and now they are! Is´nt that great, whats a few 100´s of billions and a few thousands of KIA´s for a pricetag for such a worthy cause?


lol - that was good

[XShipRider]

And how are we supposed to pay for it? That $100 billion has to be borrowed now and paid back with interest, you know.

Oh, don't worry. It's "off budget." Whatever the he11 that means!

[Smersh]

Whatever it takes to win, spend it. I thought you hated government spending?

[ElHombre]

Oh, don't worry. It's "off budget." Whatever the he11 that means!

That reminds me. The whole war has been paid for with 'emergency appropriations' from Congress (it seems that after all these years, funding the wars in Iraq and A-stan still comes as a surprise to them). Are these counted as part of the budget when they announce the latest budget defecit numbers?

[Maskirovka]

lol - that was good

So I can really say the famous: I told you so....

[annihilation]

So I can really say the famous: I told you so....

yes you can..

[Maskirovka]

yes you can..

...I told you so...

http://www.youtube.com/v/C38hxS0MKSc

[Durandal]

President George W. Bush will soon seek about $100 billion in additional emergency funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report on Wednesday by Democratic staffers for two key panels in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Well, Bush better be ready to suck some more Chinese co¢k. Last time I checked though, they weren't paying the big bucks anymore...well, not in dollars at least. :|

Maybe if Congress doesn't have its head up its ass this time, they'll tell him to shove off and prove its going to be spent well...not that he could or it would.

[XShipRider]

Are these counted as part of the budget when they announce the latest budget defecit numbers?

That is the $64,000 question. Or, in this case, the $100B question.

I wonder, should we thank the Chinese for buying T-bills by the
billions?

[annihilation]

That is the $64,000 question. Or, in this case, the $100B question.

I wonder, should we thank the Chinese for buying T-bills by the
billions?

They actually are getting away from the dollar and t-bills, diversifying. Thats whats making the dollar weaker and in return the chinese 'currency. Giving the the upper hand as they try to break into the european markets.

[Nano]

They actually are getting away from the dollar and t-bills, diversifying. Thats whats making the dollar weaker and in return the chinese 'currency. Giving the the upper hand as they try to break into the european markets.

You're right, but one thing it gives them is leverage in keeping the U.S. off its back on its human rights violations and the media away from current genocide(s) that has been and is going on in China. Chinese-Muslims in China are now being particularly being targeted under false claims of being terrorists.
If there is any justification for a defensive jihad it is against China.

[annihilation]

You're right, but one thing it gives them is leverage in keeping the U.S. off its back on its human rights violations and the media away from current genocide(s) that has been and is going on in China. Chinese-Muslims in China are now being particularly being targeted under false claims of being terrorists.
If there is any justification for a defensive jihad it is against China.

Actually I have heard reports of muslim terrorist attacks in the north of china. Also china is trying to promote a good muslim friend with its people in china and those out in the world (allowing chinese to go to mecca) in an attempt to befriend the suadis.

Really I don't care about china's human right issue, thats of there concern, when it comes to tradining with them. All i care about is having a fair trading system where American can benefit as much or more as the other side.