03 August 2006

Bush Budgetary Madness: "Dangerous"

I was thinking earlier today about the predicament the USA is in with George Bush et al. in the White House. A thought came to me: George Bush is completely mad. Yes, that's right, out of his mind, off of his rocker - looney tunes. Stupid, no. Deranged, YES!

Suddenly every thing makes so much more sense. Somehow, we have to figure out how to boot this donkey and his cronies out of their roost. They are recklessly endangering the lives and prosperity of too many people.

This is part of six questions from Ken Silverstein (Harper's) that Gordon Adam, a former senior White House Budget Official, answered. It lends supportive evidence to the Madness from on high that the World is subject to with the current administration. Here is a link: http://www.harpers.org/sb-six-questions-for-gordon-adams-1154646051.html
...

5. Have previous administrations relied on such sleight of hand to fund wars?
The Congressional Research Service looked at that question and found that in every previous war, since World War II, after one or at the most two years, the [President] planned and requested war funding from the Congress through the regular budget process. This time we are doing something new and dangerous.

6. What are the implications of all this for budget planning and public awareness of how tax dollars are being spent?
Putting 20 percent of our defense dollars beyond standard scrutiny has broken the budget planning process. The defense budget that is published is incomplete and meaningless and the emergency supplementals are based on a “trust me” system. As a result, our defense spending is dishonest and out of control. It is hard to know if we can ever fix this, but some in Congress are trying. Senators McCain, Warner, and Gregg got an amendment into the defense bill this summer that would require the Defense Department to ask that Iraq, Afghanistan, and counter-terror funds be put through the normal budget process next year. We will see if that requirement survives negotiations with the House of Representatives. It is doubtful that the Administration will comply with the requirement if it becomes law; they have not wanted to project future costs for Iraq or the war on terror at all.
link: http://www.harpers.org/sb-six-questions-for-gordon-adams-1154646051.html

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