Bush requests $50 billion for Iraq, but what about education, health, New Orleans?

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A formal request for $50 billion is to be delivered to congress the week of Sept. 10, after Army General David Petraeus testifies to Congress about military and political developments in Iraq. According to an unnamed Congressional aide, the Army General plans to argue about the progress made in Iraq and will say more time is need to solidify their progress.

The White House as well as national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined to comment or confirm any reports.

"There are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out." "The momentum is now on our side," said Bush on Tuesday in his speech to military veterans. This is contrary to the reports of Government Accountability Office. The Associated Press has learned that the GOA’s congressional audit report will conclude at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks set to judge the Iraqi government’s performance have a failing grade.

The $50 billion would be in addition to the $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget. There’s also the pending supplemental bill of $147 billion to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It’s great to see that President Bush knows his priorities when it comes to the US. Another $50 billion to be spent on a war most of the country does not support, or the world for that matter. The US education system seems to be degrading year by year. Nationally, SAT scores for the class of 2007 for reading and math were the lowest since 1999. What about the gulf coast ravaged by Katrina? Bush asks for more volunteers to help. Why not take some of the 160,000 troops stationed in Iraq and put them to use in New Orleans? Just a thought, but that would make much sense. In two years, $114 billion have been spent on Katrina, as compared to $460 billion for the defense budget of just one year. Of the 114 billion, 96 billion has been made available to local governments, and we all know they will spend that money wisely. Right.