Obama to request $33 billion more for war

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, on top of a record request for $708 billion for the Defense Department next year, The Associated Press has learned.

The administration is also plans to tell Congress next month that its central military objectives for the next four years will include winning the current wars while preventing new ones and that its core missions will include both counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. ...

The extra $33 billion in 2010 would mostly go toward the expansion of the war in Afghanistan. Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops for that war as part of an overhaul of the war strategy late last year.

The request for that additional funding will be sent to Congress at the same time as the record spending request for next year, making war finding an especially difficult pill for some of Obama's Democratic allies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203181.html

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. can we get a few billion for Haiti? n/t

[Ignis]

28. NO! We NEED this money for DEFENSE!

...defense of petroleum companies' interests in the ME.

...defense against claims that Surge Mark II is underfunded.

...defense of military contractors' bloated budgets.

...defense against charges of being "Soft on Terra."

...defense of the status quo.

[amborin]

2. $7.2 trillion: real cost of bank bailout:

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/big-finance-donations-congress


DONATIONS FROM BIG FINANCE, 2009 WHY WALL STREET WANTS HIS/HER ATTENTION:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
$1,735,900
The Street's favorite Dem fought regs for derivatives, credit ratings, and accounting

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
$1,019,110
As majority leader, signed off on TARP; all finance-related bills need his approval

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
$944,950
Junior senator voted against the bailout twice—perhaps she'll come around

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
$745,698
Once a deregulation fan, he's now facing a reeelction fight—and pushing for reforms

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
$499,197
Minority whip's October '09 (!) op-ed said Americans underappreciate derivatives

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
$458,008
Used to retool bankrupt companies for conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.)
$423,873
Ex-VP at Goldman Sachs, member of pro-business New Democrat Coalition

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)
$409,300
As ag committee chair, she must sign off on any new derivative regulations

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)
$382,349
Financial Services Committee chair has called for "death panels" for failing firms

Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.)
$364,875
Tried to weaken consumer protection bill, voted against taxing giant AIG bonuses



http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/real-size-bailout-treasury-fed


and....

"Too Big to Jail"

"MAYBE WALL STREET should open a casino right there on the corner of Broad, because these guys simply cannot lose. After kneecapping the global economy, costing millions their homes and livelihoods, and saddling our grandchildren with massive debt—after all that, they're cashing in their bonuses from 2008. That's right, 2008—when amid the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the $700 billion TARP legislation (a mere 5 percent of a $14 trillion bailout; see "The Real Size of the Bailout"), humiliated banks rolled back executive bonuses.

Or so we thought: In fact, those bonuses were simply reconfigured to have a higher proportion of company stock. Those shares weren't worth so much at the time, as the execs made a point of telling Congress, but that meant they could only go up, and by the time they did, the public (suckers!) would have forgotten the whole exercise. It worked out beautifully: The value of JPMorgan Chase's 2008 bonuses has increased 20 percent to $10.5 billion, an average of nearly $6 million for the top 200 execs. Goldman's 2008 bonuses are worth $7.8 billion.

And why are bank stocks worth more now? Because of the bailout, of course. Bankers aren't being rewarded for pulling the economy out of the doldrums. Nope, they're simply skimming from the trillions we've shoveled at them. The house always wins. Indeed, 2009 bonuses are expected to be 30 to 40 percent higher than 2008's. And don't forget AIG, which paid the same division that helped cook up collateral debt obligations and credit default swaps "retention bonuses" worth $475 million, in some execs' cases 36 times their base salaries....."

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/too-big-jail

[defendandprotect]

5. Thank you - saved . .. Where would capitalism be without us . . . ???!!!

[defendandprotect]

3. "Disappointment" expressed here often . . .. we're so way beyond that ---

[Skittles]

4. disgusting

[invictus]

14. +1

[bemildred]

6. Hey, we can get it from the Fed!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7451555

[bridgit]

7. From the DoD & MIC, that just smells like chump change Obama may as well...

just hand them the ATM card and send a candy-gram to Liz Cheney too :):(

[tekisui]

8. And, he's just getting started. 33 billion extra here.

Another 50 billion there.

No price is too high for USA War, Inc.

[StarfarerBill]

9. The Pentagon needs that much to achieve wargasm.

The MIC and the corporate media will provide the foreplay.

[Flaneur]

10. Sorry, can't afford it right now.

[izquierdista]

11. Change we can believe in

Yes, we may get to keep the change, but the dollars will still be going to the Pentagon and the Military Industrial Complex.

[Robb]

12. 5% more than the proposed budget already entails.

I would be clutching pearls if I could afford them.

The $33B is not remarkable. The $741B is astonishing, however not unanticipated.

[Quantess]

16. That's a lot of money!

[TexasObserver]

13. Recommend

[Bluebear]

20. .

[TexasObserver]

23. I recommend reading the OP. I don't recommend the president's action.

[Bluebear]

24. absolutely understood from you :)

[TexasObserver]

30. It was an excuse to kick the thread.

Occasionally someone thinks recommending a thread means recommending the title statement, so I wanted to negate that impression.

[Bluebear]

31. Here's another excuse to kick it lol

[SnoopDog]

15. The same amount China used to build a bullet train from the equivalent...

of Chicago to Washington DC....

Ya, our country/democracy is dying....

[KakistocracyHater]

17. war without end is bankrupting America

*

[Joe the Liberal]

18. And he'll get every penny......

because there is ALWAYS money for war to kill people overseas in bullshit wars but NEVER any to improve the lives of citizens here at home.

[cutlassmama]

21. this is just too much

[Prometheus Bound]

19. "its central military objectives...will include...preventing new (wars)"

There's one sure-fire way to achieve that objective -- deny him the funds to start any new ones.

[W_HAMILTON]

22. CBO score first, please.

:sarcasm:

[krabigirl]

25. end these ridiculous war$.

[berni_mccoy]

26. Already posted and hashed and rehashed in LBN:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4222461

Yes, we know Haiti needs help. This story was from yesterday, before the quake.

[Autumn]

27. It's a bitter pill for

this Democrat. Enough is enough.

[amborin]

29. so sad and horrible!