US lawmakers press Bush to put war costs in budget

[Judi Lynn]

US lawmakers press Bush to put war costs in budget
22 Dec 2006 19:12:51 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Top lawmakers are pressing President George W. Bush to stop using a "shadow budget" to fund the Iraq war and instead list the expected costs in the 2008 spending plan he is set to unveil early next year.

Total war spending may reach $170 billion for the 2007 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, a record.

Since the conflict began in 2003, Bush has used emergency spending bills to cover nearly all of the costs for the Iraq operation, rather than including them in the annual budget.

He has come under criticism for this practice, not only by lawmakers but also by the Iraq Study Group that recommended policy options for Iraq and said that in the interests of openness, the budget process should not be circumvented.

Three lawmakers -- one Republican and two Democrats -- wrote to Bush on Thursday telling him that the emergency bills had created an "ever-expanding shadow budget" that was obscuring Congress's oversight process and skewing budget deficit projections.
(snip/...)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22278794.htm

[BOSSHOG]

1. He's a fucking idiot

Maybe I should hide my electric bill, then the electric company won't know I owe them money.

Republicans say government does not work. They then get elected and prove it.

[smtpgirl]

2. if he did that, then the economy would not be as "rosy"

as the WH indicates.

[Captain Hilts]

3. As Marv Albert would say...YEEEEEEEEEEEES! nt

[ryanmuegge]

4. No, no...

Let him do whatever he wants. After all, the congress gave him a blank check to go to war in 2002 on grounds that everybody, especially legislators, knew were a pack of lies. They voted for multi-billion dollar appropriation after appropriation for this fun little adventure for KBR and Bechtel. Allowing to cover up the cooking of intelligence by creating a fake committee to "investigate" the intelligence, but not the policymakers who manipulated it, was also unforgivable.

Please, don't make the public endure the fake political theater of pretending to make an attempt to hold the administration accountable now that the winds of popular opinion are blowing in a different direction. Stick to your guns! You had the power to stop the problem before it started. Too little, too late, motherfuckers.

[Double T]

5. Looks like 'WE' are getting close to reissuing our currency...........

in Monopoly Money.