Editorials

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Dinero Down the Drain By Allison Villarreal Dec 10, 2007, 12:04

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Attention, please, good citizens of these 50 United States of America:
your president wants more of you money, to fund this war that he seems to have forgotten the reason for starting.

I know it had something or other to do with finding some sort of “weapons of mass destruction” ; but since those were no where to be found, he went for the “war on terror” approach. After bringing down Saddam, which no one will argue was a bad thing, but sort of unrelated, this became a crusade for democracy and freedom for the people of Iraq. Hard to follow? Yeah I though so too.

[If I sound too flippant it is not a lack of respect for the President but simply the fact that this matter is personal … (something like that)]

After over five years waging this war one would think that the reason for it all would be firmly decided upon.

However, I digress. My point is that President George W. Bush wants more money to fund this war whose origins are a bit on the vague side.

A proposal was sent to Congress on Monday, October 22, to increase funding for expenses related to U.S. military campaigns in Iraq by nearly 46 billion dollars. If approved, the extra moolah will bring the war tab to a total of over $700 billion.

I did say if approved right?

That “Oh, so stingy” democratic majority in Congress has resolved to prevent any more money from going into this war unless it is to bring those troops out of Iraq.

The President insists, though, that all this money is necessary and vital to the protection and aid to our troops. He even has the audacity to try and pull on the conscience of the public: "I know some in Congress are against the war," he said. "But they ought to make sure our troops have what it takes to succeed. ... Congress should not go home for the holidays while our troops are still waiting for the funds they need."

I think Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi put it best when she said, "Demanding nearly $200 billion for Iraq while vetoing health care for 10 million children exemplifies the Bush administration's misplaced priorities."

You want to talk about “needs” Bush, baby? Look at the thousands of parents in your own country who can't afford their children's medical bills because you decided to veto the CHIP program proposal.

Last time Congress decided to succumb to the will of the President, portions of the $150.5 billion approved in May didn't go to the troops but instead was pumped into programs not directly related to defense, such as aid to agriculture.

My final word on the matter? Let's take care of our troops while making sure dear old W stays in check.

Somehow our soldiers have gotten stuck in Iraq and we can't just pull them out any time soon. So while they're there lets try and keep them safe. Give Bush what’s necessary to have our troops come home alive but not a penny more.

Sadly, I don't truly believe the Democratic majority is going to be able to get a hold on the President's never-ending spending; but over all else, they need to keep in mind that he won't be in office forever. The extravagant bill we have to foot for this war may be with us for nearly an eternity.

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