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Bush priorities under scrutiny Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-09-17-iraqmoney-usat_x.htmhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-09-17-iraqmoney-usat_x.htm
Bush's priorities under scrutiny
By Peronet Despeignes, USATODAY
The White House sent its formal request to Congress on Wednesday for an additional $87 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, inviting renewed debate on President Bush's priorities and more questions about the sustainability of his policies.
By Paul T. Whyte, USA TODAY
Most lawmakers who commented on the request said they would support U.S. troops and the effort to stabilize Iraq, but there were signs even before the official request landed on Capitol Hill that the House of Representatives and Senate might balk at a big part of it: the $20.3 billion earmarked for repairing Iraq's power grid, sewers, roads, phone lines, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure destroyed or worn by years of war.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, criticized the "huge disparity between what this administration is willing to spend on Iraq and what it's willing to spend here" on homeland security, education and infrastructure. Obey warned that the mismatch would make it "very difficult to sustain public support for this."
A senior administration official who spoke to reporters on condition he not be named responded that the funds were "necessary to win the war on terror and support our troops."
"The faster Iraq is stabilized and secure, the faster our troops can leave and the faster we'll be more secure," the official said.
Obey, other Democrats and some Republicans have called for more funding of homeland security, veterans benefits and infrastructure spending inside the United States. Obey said that while he supported balancing the federal budget, "we not only need a balanced budget but a balance in the budget between what we do abroad and what we do at home."
The administration official said the president wanted a "clean bill" — jargon for a bill that has no spending items beyond the ones the president asked for — but declined to say whether the president would insist on one, or threaten a veto if he doesn't get it.
Other Democrats have proposed reversing some of the Bush tax cuts to pay for the new funding. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans as a way of paying for the plan. The White House has rejected the idea of ending tax cuts or cutting other spending to pay for the Iraq money.
The administration has said Iraq's reconstruction alone could cost up to $75 billion, though some say that's an underestimate. The administration is counting on allies to help pay, but other nations haven't been forthcoming.
The debate over the Iraq costs comes at a time when criticism of the United States' huge budget deficit is growing. In a stark speech on the larger financial challenges facing Washington, David Walker, comptroller general of the General Accounting Office, warned that Iraq "will cost well more than we've been told."
In his speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Walker, who heads Congress' investigative arm, said the nation's finances were spinning out of control. "Our deficits are not manageable without significant changes in programs, policies and processes."
Though the administration has argued a recovering economy will boost tax revenue and help balance the budget again, Walker disagreed. "We cannot simply grow our way out of this problem," he said. "Tough choices will be required on spending and taxes, and the sooner the better. ... This is arguably the biggest challenge we face. It's time to admit we're in a fiscal hole and stop digging."
In the meantime, the budget situation continues to worsen. The Treasury's monthly budget statement for August — just a month before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 — showed the deficit for this year at a record $400 billion, which would easily surpass 1992's record deficit of $290 billion.
Among some of Iraq's surprising immediate needs is the need to import oil to the tune of $1 billion a year. Iraq, which has the world's second-largest oil reserves, is suffering oil shortages caused by a decrepit infrastructure and damage from terrorist attacks on its pipelines and other energy systems.
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