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| Bush Seeks $27B More for Terror War |
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Posted by FoM on March 21, 2002 at 21:54:01 PT By Alan Fram, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press 
President Bush asked lawmakers Thursday for an additional $27.1 billion to finance the war on terrorism overseas and to buttress security at home.The request is on top of $40 billion that Bush and Congress provided last fall as an initial response to the Sept. 11 attacks. While the $67.1 billion total is a small fraction of the $2.1 trillion the government will spend this year, it would exceed the budgets of all but a few federal agencies. "I know it's a lot of money, my request, but ... I want to remind you all, we fight for freedom," Bush said in El Paso, Texas, before traveling to Latin America. The proposal is dominated by funds for the Pentagon, aviation security, New York and foreign aid. It includes at least $29 million to help Colombia in its newly escalated war against rebels. The United States previously has helped the Colombian government fight left- and right-wing groups, many of whom finance themselves through involvement in drug trafficking. The overall plan is sure to be popular among lawmakers, who have offered strong support for the effort against terrorism. But it is unlikely to emerge from Congress unscathed. Some Democrats in recent weeks have questioned the administration's war goals, and members of both parties have demanded more details about the White House's anti-terrorism plans. The bill also will have to contend with lingering bitter feelings over Bush's victory in December over Democrats and some Republicans who tried adding billions of dollars in anti-terrorism spending. "Instead, the White House played politics and forced an unnecessary delay," said David Sirota, spokesman for Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., a leader of that effort. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he would support the proposal. He said it would "sustain our nation's effort to prosecute the war on terrorism, defend our nation at home and reach out to assist our partners abroad." Lawmakers cannot begin working on the measure until finishing a two-week recess in early April. Work on the package probably will last weeks. Much of the money for Bush's latest request would come from making this year's projected federal deficit even deeper. This year's red ink was expected to reach about $46 billion even before the president's latest spending proposal. Of Bush's request, $14 billion would be for the Defense Department and intelligence agencies. Most would be for the costs of the campaign in Afghanistan and military operations elsewhere, and for the thousands of Reserve and National Guard troops now activated. Bush also asked for: _ $4.7 billion for the new Transportation Security Administration to toughen safety measures at airports and aboard planes, and for the Coast Guard. _ Nearly $5.6 billion to help New York, where the World Trade Center towers were toppled. That money is part of the $21 billion Bush promised earlier this month for the still-struggling city. _ $1.7 billion for foreign aid and U.S. embassy security. _ $750 million to help workers who have lost jobs. _ $327 million for equipment and training for local law enforcement agencies. _ $87 million to help the Postal Service prevent future biohazard attacks through the mail. _ $20 million for the Securities and Exchange Commission to add 100 financial fraud investigators in the wake of the Enron scandal. _ $12.5 million for cleaning the Capitol complex after a letter containing anthrax bacteria was sent last October to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Meanwhile, the Senate Budget Committee gave 12-10 party-line approval to a $2.1 trillion budget for next year. The blueprint, written by majority Democrats, would reject $600 billion in new tax cuts Bush proposed and would devote more than the he sought for spending and debt reduction. The measure also calls for a five-year plan for balancing the budget by 2008, but leaves the task of choosing spending cuts or tax increases to achieve that until next year. The House approved a rival package that embraces Bush's budget goals on Wednesday. Source: Associated Press Related Articles: Bush Begins Latin Swing in Mexico Bombing in Peru Sends Message To Bush White House to Increase Aid to Colombia Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on March 22, 2002 at 08:55:20 PT:
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| I suggest if you want to see the way America may be heading, go here: John Stanton & Wayne Madsen: 'The War that destroyed America' http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=5811&mode=thread&order=0 From the article: In a maddening repetition of history, the young war-fighters of the United States, along with those of its coalition partners, find themselves in battle with an amorphous opponent in a global counter-insurgency campaign managed by paranoid policy makers who see themselves as the enlightened sons of God. As the illegitimate and extremist government of the United States prepares to expend another generation of its youth for power, money and resources thousands of kilometers from home, they are negligently and criminally allowing the infrastructure, health and welfare of the United States to deteriorate. As America wages World War III against its 21st century barbarians—the Taliban and Al Qaeda (the Visigoths and Huns?)—in a war that may well see the use of nuclear weapons, the American Empire seems doomed to duplicate the concluding events of 476 A.D. And it's not Al Qaeda's 5,000 militants that will destroy the USA, it's the current "selected" government that will sacrifice the future of the world's greatest experiment in freedom on the altar of fascism. and later on: In the coming years, trillions of taxpayer dollars previously earmarked for non-military expenditures will be siphoned off to feed the voracious appetite of the Grendelesqe US military-industrial complex. And for what purpose? Billions more dollars for a grandiose national missile defense instead of billions for the tools the young Special Operations war-fighters, who will inevitably fight and die in countries as far-a-field as Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia and Georgia, need to do their jobs. Trillions more dollars will be directed to a military and intelligence establishment that failed to protect and defend American citizens and the U.S. Constitution on September 11, 2001. And as more billions and billions of dollars get poured into Homeland Security, it's worth looking at The State of the Union, or should we say State of the Homeland, to see if the war-fighters who return from their efforts in foreign lands will recognize the country they left. For while Americans fight on the frontiers of strange and distant lands, they do not understand that their country is disintegrating. And the numbers tell the story. I strongly recommend we all read this...because the tie-in with the WoD makes us the 'barbarians'...who can expect the same treatment as the Talis, when they have been 'pacified'. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on March 22, 2002 at 06:46:30 PT |
| buys a lot of lies, er- I mean truth, no I mean lies, no, no the truth, no lie. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by dddd on March 21, 2002 at 22:39:01 PT |
| ,,,now hang on a minute,,,,Am I correct in saying that 27 billion,,is TWENTY SEVEN THOUSAND MILLION???..
...OK,,,let's step back a minute here,,and think about this in the Big Picture......Is it not sorta shocking that we have come to a point where a request for 27 Billion Dollars is somehow seen as normal,,kinda like;"Hey man,,I need another twenty bucks...."..... ..I remember the good ol' days,when the drug war was the only black hole where billions of dollars could dissapear into some covert oblivion expenditure scam fiasco.....ha!...the "Terror War",makes the drug war look like some stupid snowball fight or dirt clod war.......Imagine if the Shrub had to ask the American People for the 27 Billion,,,,,,?...I'd say,,"well,,what are ya gonna use it for?"....ya know,,just like anyone would want to know before the cut loose with 27 Billion,,,but nowdays,,it seems that it is somehow normal to ask for,or,"seek", 27,000 Million Dollars.......dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on March 21, 2002 at 22:11:33 PT |
| My how times change. [ Post Comment ] |
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