Key Republicans Ask What Emergency?

House Republican leaders said yesterday that they may cut some of the nonmilitary parts of President Bush's $82 billion budget request for Iraq and anti-terrorism efforts because they are not emergencies.

"...in our initial review of this president's request, we have found some items in foreign aid that probably do not qualify as immediate emergencies," DeLay said.

"It's certainly not what most of us envision as an emergency supplemental," she (House Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce ) said. "There's a lot of probably routine spending in there."

Republicans said they were especially rankled by plans for the $658 million embassy in Baghdad, which the State Department said would have the largest staff of any U.S. embassy. The number of employees will not be released for security reasons, the staff said. Several Republican lawmakers said the embassy appeared to be a clearly foreseeable capital expense that did not belong in an emergency budget.

Rice, questioned about the embassy at an afternoon appearance before the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on foreign operations, said the money is part of the emergency request because the government believes the job can be completed in 24 months if it is begun right away, and the administration would "really like to get started."

Damn if you can't rely on your own friends to help you swindle the american public who is a president to turn to? (How do you spell lame duck?)
- posted by Anonymous @ Thursday, February 17, 2005