Bush Wants Record-High $200 Billion For War In '08

After smothering efforts by war critics in Congress to drastically cut U.S. troop levels in Iraq, President Bush plans to ask lawmakers next week to approve another massive spending measure -- totaling nearly $200 billion -- to fund the war through next year, Pentagon officials said.

If Bush's spending request is approved, 2008 will be the most expensive year of the Iraq war.

U.S. war costs have continued to grow because of the additional combat forces sent to Iraq this year and because of efforts to quickly ramp up production of new technology, such as mine-resistant trucks designed to protect troops from roadside bombs. The new trucks can cost three to six times as much as an armored Humvee.

Read the full story here.

Comments

[azcamp]

12:08 PM on 09/24/2007

If Congress does not have the sense to impeach this President before he bankrupts our nation, American taxpayers will continue to be held hostage to failed government.

I am so disappointed that money continues to flow to support this foreign policy catastrophe that I am ready to see George Bush forced from office. Congress can either cut off funds or impeach Bush. Those are the only two options open to them.

With reports of millions lost to fraud, theft and corruption, pouring more money down this rat hole is outrageous. As Alan Greenspan reported, this war is about oil. At this rate the cost of a gallon of oil is now measured in terms of the national debt held by China, the lost of American military lives, the lost of faith in our government and the loss of respect around the world.

[RandyRanson]

08:50 AM on 09/24/2007

Doing the math of $500 Thousand per minute = $30 Million US $ per hour = $262,800,000,000.00 per year.
President Bush is seeking $200,000,000,000.00.

The question for George W. Bush is, who does your math? $62,800,000,000.00 US $ seems like a lot of money to be off the mark on. Unless for the sake of $62.8 Billion US Dollars, you're willing to spin the amount for quite a bit less, to con the public, in other-words, lie to your people, to get them to accept the numbers, you're claiming that the military needs.

Mr. President, although you don't believe in Science, Math is a Law of Truths onto itself, and by distorting your request to such a degree, you make more of a fool of yourself, than you already are, and you insult our, the public's intellect, by taking us all for being as foolish, and as dumb stupid as yourself. So, the real question is, what kind of President is it, that would lie. to deceive his own people, of their own true worth?
You don't deserve pity, you deserve shame.
The numbers as presented don't lie.

[jpshotwheels]

08:15 AM on 09/24/2007

If this is true and Bush asks for more money, this is time for the Democrats to resolve the issue, no funding bill, don't bring it to the floor, no more money, Mr.Bush.

They don't have the votes to change policy in Iraq, but they can and mostly certainly should stop the funding. This will be the chance to raise the approval rating of Congress from 11% to 99%.

I saw a clip from a Documentary, that there are American soldiers passing out rolls of $1800.00 to individual Iraqi Sunnis in Iraq, Anbar Province to be exact, to help them defeat the 10% Al-Queada forces. I thought to myself, to bad there not passing that money out to Americans, on the streets of America, so people could pay their mortgages and utility bills. What is wrong with this picture??????

[Sanjong Thapa]

11:53 PM on 09/23/2007

So, President Bush wants $200-Billion for the Iraq War this year?

SO WHAT?

THERE'S $8-TRILLION WORTH OF OIL BENEATH IRAQ !

with that kind of cake we:
*save Social Security
*balances the budget
*pay for Bush's Universal Health Care Plan
*pay off our bonds to China
*pay for medicare

LIBS -- STOP BEING PUSSIES AND TAKE THE FUGGIN' MONEY

[doinaheckofajob]

03:02 AM on 09/24/2007

Sanjong - stop being a right wing asshole and take your head out of your ass.

[jpshotwheels]

08:08 AM on 09/24/2007

America will never see a dime of the money from the oil, we are paying twice for gas what we paid before Bush got in office. All the money from the oil will go to Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater USA, and every other Contractor friends of Bush & Cheney.

[leftLibertarian]

10:37 PM on 09/23/2007

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[jpshotwheels]

08:04 AM on 09/24/2007

I am with you Impeach them all. We are going to pay a very very high price for the Bush Administration for years to come. I miss the Clinton years so much. I didn't agree with everything he did, but America and American's were alot happier and alot better off.

[leftLibertarian]

10:33 PM on 09/23/2007

Hello Democrats. Hello! Wake up. WAKE UP from your long slumber. Bush is ruining America. He is bankrupting America. He started a war based on lies. Remember, you democrats said you'd do something.
Hello, hello, Wake up WAKE UP.
Impeach these criminals. No MORE NEGOTIATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ginzaman]

03:09 PM on 09/23/2007

What's going to happen if Congress gives him this money. And then the new DHS travel regulations kick in? In case you don't know, starting 2/08, EVERYONE in America will have to get govt. permission to be able to travel by air or ship in, to or from the U.S. I'll bet the candidates are gonna LOVE this.

[Misanthrope2]

05:46 PM on 09/23/2007

I think you mean they need a passport.

[FogBelter]

01:58 PM on 09/23/2007

If Bush wants the money he should give his buddies over at the Russell Trust a call and have them tap into those Swiss Vaults where Henry Stimson (SB*P2*D86) is said to have squirreled away some of the Imperial Japanese Golden Lily, and Nazi Black Eagle Gold that was never returned to the victims of WWII.

In other words, no more money from the US Treasury for Bush's illegal Hegelian wars.

[hufferh]

01:54 PM on 09/23/2007

last one for me - i just read that about 40% of the money goes to contactors not the military. In light of Blackwater killings and corruption of others (6 bn if i remember), this would be a great time to announce complete cutting of funds to 3rd party contractors. (credit goes to biblibaggins at thinkprogress.org.) No spin about "not supporting the troops". This would at least be a nice first step to stopping the war.

[hufferh]

01:32 PM on 09/23/2007

200 bn over a year is about 3.8 bn a week. If the dems are such cowards that they will not defund completely, how about approving funds 1 wk at a time so the public see the real cost of the war per week. (You could even read the names of the dead and injured soldiers before they get their blood money.)

3.8 bn + approx 10 dead soldiers + ??? injured soliders+ ????? killed iraqis+ ?????? injured iraqi = 1 WEEK of war. (if anybody has the actual stats that would be great.)

also 35 bn for child health care = 9 days of Iraq. Good thing the administration has their priorities in order.

[hufferh]

01:43 PM on 09/23/2007

this morning i heard them say that the health care covers too many people (It was either Wallace or Hume on FOX, don't remember. How can too many people have health care? What kind of an arguement is that?

[Misanthrope2]

12:26 PM on 09/23/2007

Dems should just say no and demand a fillibuster-proof super-majority vote.

Instead, I fear they will trade for something, like the minimum wage increase. Anybody have any guesses about what they will trade for?

[hufferh]

01:40 PM on 09/23/2007

this is the arguement that bothers me. -
"Dems should just say no and demand a fillibuster-proof super-majority vote"

how? they can't even get 60 to GET a vote. I know the republicans just bullied everybody into getting whatever they wanted but that is not how Congress should work. Each side needs to give some and learn to compromise. The Webb amendment was a good start but the dems couldn't even get 60 votes for that. How would they get 67 for a veto proof majority?

That being said, I have fear that the Dems will trade Iraq for NOTHING again!

[Misanthrope2]

04:47 PM on 09/23/2007

The Webb amendment was no compromise. It failed because of the 60 vote requirement.

The 60 votes can be required by the Democrats, too.

No money until they have 60 votes for it, thus, no money.

Compromise my ass.

[Plowboy]

12:15 PM on 09/23/2007

Watch the "opposition" cave in and give him what he asks for.
Why?
Because, in spite of the pretense, both parties are owned by the same interests.
But what is our purpose in staying in Iraq, now that we have eliminated those WMDs? Oh, sorry, I see now that a new purpose for the war has been discovered: OIL.
Well, oil helped Bush sell it to his cronies. But there is another purpose that these "admissions" about oil are meant to hide! That purpose was described in the 1970s when Israel made its first unprovoled attack on then peaceful, prosperous, multicultural Lebanon. It is to destroy every stable nation in the area and make it easy for Israel to dominate the region. According to the plan, America would do it for them to any country like Iraq that was too big for Israel to handle. And if you wish for proof, listen to the drumbeats for war on Iran. Don't they sound familiar?
What was it old Barnum said about suckers?

[Plowboy]

12:16 PM on 09/23/2007

That was meant to be "unprovoked."

[dora rice]

09:56 AM on 09/23/2007

no big deal 500.000/minute. When you can steal a couple of % from the cost of living expense for seniors. When you can reduce medicare benefits for seniors and disabled. When you can increase the cost of living and the gas tax for all americans, and give the service men pennies for fighting your dirty war, and cut medical care for the service men when they come back home.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

02:38 AM on 09/23/2007

Whenever they've said they're pumping billions into the economy to overcome the subprime problems, or whatever, it REALLY means they just printed a bunch of new money that didn't exist before, causing a greater whip-lash effect later and the dollar to be DE-VALUED almost immediatly. They can't artificially inflate the market forever, and when they quit...lookout.

Yes, the preznutz must complete the job of selling ALL OUR debt to communist China, another 200 billion chasing others oil will greatly help achieve this goal.

[stargazer13]

02:27 AM on 09/23/2007

what madness is this not one more dime I tell you
not one more dime spent killing stealing lying cheating geezzzzuss and we have the gull to call our selves civilized may all our Grand Children for give us for we no not what we do