Thread: BUSH WANTS ADDITIONAL 42 BILLION (Is he insane?)

Bush wants another $42 billion for wars

Story Highlights
NEW: Senate majority leader estimates cost of Iraq war near $650 billion

Congress hasn't approved initial requests for $147 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan

In Monday announcement, president asks Congress to act on all requests

New request will cover armored vehicles, equipment repair, Pentagon says

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration on Monday asked for an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the 2008 request for total war funding to $189.3 billion.


President Bush says Monday he is requesting billions more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The request comes on top of $147 billion already sought for in the wars. Most of the money goes to Iraq, which is costing the Pentagon an estimated $2 billion a week.

"Parts of this war are complicated, but one part is not -- and that is that America should do what it takes to support our troops and protect our people," President Bush said in an appearance with members of veterans groups at the White House.

Bush said the money will cover basic operating expenses, plus additional armored vehicles and countermeasures designed to protect U.S. troops from roadside bombs.

"Congress should not go home for the holidays while our troops are still waiting for the funds they need," he said.

The president also called on Congress to finish the appropriations bills that fund the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs before lawmakers' holiday recess, set to begin in mid-November.

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The request is bound to kick off another debate on Capitol Hill over the course of the Iraq war. Bush's last supplemental spending request led to a showdown with the Democratic leaders of Congress, who pushed for a withdrawal of American combat troops in 2008 -- a demand dropped after the president vetoed the measure.

Minutes after Bush spoke, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, warned the president not to expect Congress to "rubber-stamp" the latest request.

"In the coming weeks, we will hold it up to the light of day and fight for the change of strategy and redeployment of troops that is long overdue," Reid said.

He said the new request means the overall cost of the widely unpopular war now approaches $650 billion since the March 2003 invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The entire war in Iraq is being paid for with borrowed money," Reid said.

He contrasted the Iraqi funding with Bush's October 3 veto of a $60 billion children's health care bill that had bipartisan support and would have been paid for by an increase in cigarette taxes. Bush called the bill too expensive and a step toward government-provided health care.

"It's no wonder the American people are frustrated," Reid said. "We've been fighting for America's priorities, while the president continues investing only in his failed war strategy. He wants us to come up with another $200 billion and just sign off on it -- that's what he said today."

The administration made the initial supplement request, which lawmakers have yet to approve, in February.

The original request submitted to Congress for $141.7 billion was followed by a $5.3 billion request to fund the purchase of more armored vehicles. Both of those requests total $147 billion.

The latest request would cover more armored vehicles and repair of existing equipment that can be returned to the field, Pentagon officials said.

In addition to daily operations, the White House said the latest supplemental would fund about $1.7 billion in new spending on veterans' health care, $1 billion for military construction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan and another $1 billion for training Iraqi soldiers and police. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Barbara Starr and Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/22/ ... index.html

Where is that money coming from? If you add it all up we just don't have the money. He can't take anymore from us but he sure can give a heck of lot less to the illegal to make up for 42 billion he needs.

Bush - SPEND SPEND SPEND

Can you tell he is a wealthy idiot who has never had any financial limitations or consequences for his choices/actions? This is just mind boggling. The millions that have disappeared and has never been accounted for in Iraq; all of his cronies getting disgustingly wealthy at the expense of the lives of our children just makes me nauseous.

China owns us and our children . . . . .

So much for the promise that Iraqi oil would help to pay for this war. Bush keeps saying how we need to spend these tens of billions in Iraq to protect America, but he won't cough up 1 or 2 billion for a border fence or more agents. Gee, go figure. I guess border protection has nothing to do with protecting Americans.

I can't even believe this man!!!!!!!!

Want some more money Bush, then ask Mexico to send back the remittances!

Dixie

Paige wrote:

Where is that money coming from?

China for one - it's borrowed. We're in debt up to our eye sockets to other countries, especially China.

Originally Posted by Dixie

I can't even believe this man!!!!!!!!

Want some more money Bush, then ask Mexico to send back the remittances!

Dixie

That would definitely be a start since we've been footing their bills and giving them money to prop up their anarchy.

Here's some interesting figures:

The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It
( Debt Held by the Public vs. Intragovernmental Holdings )

Current Debt Held by the Public Intragovernmental Holdings Total Public Debt Outstanding
10/19/2007 5,042,073,097,193.13 4,011,811,597,646.86 9,053,884,694,839.99

Daily History Search Application
To find the debt outstanding on a specific day or days, simply select a single date or date range and click on the 'Find History' button.

The total public debt outstanding data is available for 01/04/1993 through 10/19/2007. The debt held by the public versus intragovernmental holdings data is available for 09/30/1997 through 10/19/2007.