Emergency Funds for Iraq War Pork
Bush asked congress for another $105 billion in emergency funding for his illegal war in Iraq. The Democratic majority, even though they said they desperately wanted to end the war, approved the spending under the guise of supporting the troops.
But wait! While we were watching the Dems and Bush play good cop, bad cop, the money the war spending bill requests jumped from $105 billion to $124 billion dollars.
How’d that happen? What’s the extra nearly $20 billion for?
$20 billion worth of pork
Bacon isn’t cheap these days, but it turns out that $20 billion can buy a lot of pork:
If you’re feeling bad for the California spinach growers who lost out in last September’s E. coli-tainted spinach recall, don’t feel too bad. The emergency Iraq war spending bill will give them $25 million compensation for their loss.
Did al Qaeda cause some of your citrus fruit to freeze? No problem. There’s $100 million allotted for oranges that have succumbed to terrorists.
There’s also $74 million for a peanut storage program.
And $500 million to fight western wild fires.
And don’t forget the old FDA building in D.C. that’s being converted into Capital office space—we need $600 million for THAT emergency war spending.
There’s also $1 billion for fighting a potential avian flu epidemic (Rumsfeld may not be Secretary of Defense any longer, but he’s still got clout and sway to increase his stock dividends from the makers of Tamiflu…)
What about $400 million for additional heating subsidies for the poor? Yes! Please inform al Qaeda the 12% of Americans living below the poverty line will not negotiate their right to subsidized heat.
And finally—and I think he’s speaking for all of us—in the spirit of supporting the troops, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, said he would only vote for the spending bill if it included an add-on that gave $400 million to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging.
Bravo, DeFazio. You’re red, white, and blue, man.
Related Articles
