Senate panel OKs $128 billion for wars

[laststeamtrain]

Source: AP

Senate panel OKs $128 billion for wars

By ANDREW TAYLOR (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — With hardly any debate, a powerful Senate committee Thursday approved President Barack Obama's $128 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the budget year beginning in October.

The move came as anxiety is increasing on Capitol Hill over the chances for success in Afghanistan and as Obama weighs whether to send more forces to the country.

The war funding was approved as the Appropriations Committee voted unanimously for a $636 billion spending measure funding next year's Pentagon budget. The war funding would implement Obama's order earlier this year to add 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan, which would bring the total number of U.S. forces there to 68,000 by the end of 2009.

There's ample skepticism in Congress that Obama's Iraq and Afghanistan funding request will be sufficient. A key lawmaker, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., predicts that an additional war funding will be needed next spring.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSjpsEKgUIbPQaGJJPMi0uZwsH_QD9AKN5GG0

[polichick]

1. What a spectacular waste of money - just think what we could do...

...for U.S. citizens, the environment, etc. with that money.

[liberalmike27]

13. Not to mention

the larger portion of the rest of the huge defense budget, about 550 billion. Then there are all the mnemonic agencies that are for our defense, the HS, FBI, CIA, NSA, and NASA that also have roles in the DOD/Pentagon complex.

Time to turn in that World policeman badge. It's a thankless job, that only brings 9/11 type attacks, Lockerbee plane bombings, and Cole incidents. It's long since been time to tend to our own fields, and stop shitting on the fields of other countries.

[polichick]

16. That's the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about...

We make up wars just to keep these people in the bucks ~ OUR bucks are spent and OUR kids are killed to sustain the MIC.

[ixion]

2. It disgusted me every time they did this for Bush,

and it's no different now. :grr:

[Just-plain-Kathy]

7. +1

:kick:

[OhioChick]

15. +2 n/t

[lapfog_1]

3. That's enought for real health care reform

with $40B left over.

For something like schools or more jobs programs, or something marginally useful.

Or hell, not increasing the debt.

[Amonester]

4. That's it. Throw out tons of money we don't have on something we don't want.

We know who these guys work for and it ain't US.

[MichiganVote]

5. Money for wars? Nah...Money for the Defense Dept. Money for war profiteers.

Money for corrupt public officials in Iraq and Afghanis. Money for bribing war lords....and on and on and on with NO oversight.

The ongoing BAILOUT of the world.

[joeycola]

6. And look what was slipped in............

This is wrong, just plan wrong. We yell when Repugs do it, it is wrong for them and wrong from Dems to do this.



The measure also contains $20 million for the development of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate on the campus of the University of Massachusetts-Boston; the funding was inserted by Inouye at the request of John Kerry, D-Mass.

[frylock]

8. oh goody..

keep up the good work.

[bertman]

9. To the Greatest with Thee! Of course, we are all forgetting about those other "issues" now that

we can rant and rave about a right-wing racist idjit from South Carolina.

If you want to get a nuanced explanation of how and why this budget request got passed and needed no arm-twisting, please go to this link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-goff/getting-off-the-road_b_281737.html

[Fearless]

10. WHY!?!?!

[Roland99]

11. $38 billion more than one year's cost of Obama's healthcare plan.

[bvar22]

12. YAY.... We get MORE WAR!!!!

GOBAMA
Go Democrats


Are we winning yet?

How will we know?

Chump Change

[Downwinder]

14. The American way.

We can't take care of what we have, so go out and get more.

[CountAllVotes]

17. great just great

:( :( :( :( :( :( :nuke:

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

U.S. OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST/AFGHANISTAN NOW!!!!

:dem:

[fascisthunter]

18. no universal healthcare

but we have plenty of money for killing.

[Iowa]

19. The people have no representation. Obama and the congress have sold out to the highest bidders.

The once great Democratic party of FDR is dead and gone. It is long past time to throw out the cockroaches that infest DC.

[ozymandius]

20. And for WHAT?!

Is there some great noble deed that needs doing that seven fucking years at war could not produce? Answer me that!

[L. Coyote]

21. Military Industrial Welfare, NOT Healthcare

[Kaleko]

22. Feeding the parasites,

so they can finally bring America to its knees and with it the whole world.

I have no hope for a real syestemic transformation anymore... short of a series of miracles.

[lefty369]

23. be patient

Its a hundred year battle against an evil foe. We all remember what happened 8 years ago and how those buildings collapsed. We need to keep in mind who was behind it all. We all need to trust and believe in the change Obama is bringing forth as the world emerges into a new global order.

[Betty]

24. what about the deficit????

oh, it doesn't matter when it comes to spending money to kill foreigners

[classysassy]

25. "Its a mad,mad,mad world"

Why do we keep returning the same old crooks to Washington,they don't care about the American public?.They want our votes so they can continue accepting bribes from the greedy cooperations.There are men and women behind bars(prisons) with more integrity than our bought and paid for congress critters.

[gtar100]

26. WTF - still hemorrhaging

Our kids can't go to college without getting into massive debt but we can do this.

Job loss is still staggeringly high but we can do this.

Any possibility of health care reform must be deficit neutral but we can do this.

Teachers have to be laid off but we can do this.

WTF... just WTF.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Vidar]

28. American Corporate Morality:Support of Death is unanimous, health very iffy.

[Joanne98]

29. War? The sky's the limit. No problem!