Whose goddamn money is it anyway??!!
Bush may boost spending request for Iraq warReuters
Sep 21, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration may increase the amount of money it is seeking for the Iraq war for the 2008 fiscal year that begins October 1, the White House said on Friday.
The White House outlined a request for around $147 billion for fiscal 2008 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the administration is reviewing those figures and is considering giving Congress an updated request.
"I would expect it to be higher, I can't tell you what the number will be," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
The Washington Post has reported
the administration may increase its request by up to $50 billion, which would bring the total request to nearly $200 billion.article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2128690120070921In Shift, Bush Emerges as a Budget WarriorThe New York Times
September 22, 2007
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — {snipped}
Mr. Bush is headed into a spending battle with Congressional Democrats with the two branches of government as divided on the issue as they have been since the federal shutdown of 1995.
Bush has threatened to veto 10 of the 11 appropriations bills that have passed the House, as well as legislation expanding a popular children’s health care program. On Monday, he will step up the fight with a speech accusing Democrats of fiscal irresponsibility.While there may be explanations for higher spending, including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Brian M. Reidl of Heritage says the federal budget has nonetheless grown at a rate of 7 percent a year under Mr. Bush, about twice the 3.5 percent rate under Bill Clinton.
The economic expansion of the 1990s ended, reducing the growth of tax revenue at the very time that Mr. Bush was pushing a long-term tax cut through Congress. Then came the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which imposed new spending demands on the government.
Military and domestic security spending shot up. Experts say those increases, coupled with Mr. Bush’s tax cuts, helped drive up the federal deficit, which peaked at $413 billion in 2004. It has since narrowed to a projected $170 billion for this year, the result of an improving economy and rising tax revenues.
article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/washington/22memo.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=fff54846625b9eaa&ex=1190606400&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1190481681-Vdit+SbQWg+fnp0QbwYqTA&pagewanted=print