Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (12822)	5/13/2004 11:02:09 AM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 173976

After the 8 years of that morally bankrupted Clinton, Bush has given our children some morals back

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (12822)	5/13/2004 11:04:54 AM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 173976

Bush seeks control $25B war fund Earlier had said request would come after elections Thursday, May 13, 2004 Posted: 9:39 AM EDT (1339 GMT) President Bush has formally asked lawmakers for $25 billion to be spent for U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan. WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush is seeking nearly unfettered control over how $25 billion would be spent for U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan later this year. Although Congress is considered certain to provide him with the money he wants, it is unclear whether it will grant him the leeway he wants in dispensing the funds. The money is supposed to cover the first months of the government's 2005 budget year, which starts October 1. Bush formally asked lawmakers for the money on Wednesday, a week after administration officials first told congressional leaders that they were seeking the funds. The request abruptly reversed earlier declarations that they would not seek the money until after the November elections. "This reserve fund will ensure that our men and women in uniform continue to have the resources they need when they need them," Bush wrote in a brief request barely longer than three pages. Even so, Democrats and some Republicans, rankled by reports that the administration used earlier funds for Iraq war preparations without telling them, are leery of providing him with unlimited flexibility in spending the money. "I'm sure that Congress would want to be sure that there's limitations on these monies and that this will not be a slush fund," Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at a hearing Wednesday. According to the short request, the $25 billion would be placed in a fund under Bush's control. He could decide how the money would be spent, as long as he informed Congress that his request was "an emergency and essential to support activities and agencies in Iraq or Afghanistan." The documents said the largest portion of the funds -- up to $14 billion -- may be used for Army operations and maintenance, which includes items like fuel purchases and equipment repair. As much as $6 billion could be for Navy, Marines, Air Force and Defense Department-wide operations and maintenance, and up to $5 billion would be for classified and other programs. But the request says the Defense Department could transfer any of the $25 billion "to any fund" of the department or to classified programs, as long as the administration notifies Congress five days in advance. The $25 billion is just a first installment in paying for U.S. military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan next year, and it excludes any additional costs for rebuilding the two countries. Some lawmakers have said they expect the final amount to reach $75 billion for the Pentagon alone.