George W. Bush & The Magic Money

President Bush has said that he will spend $200 billion dollars to rebuild the damaged cities of the gulf coast. He also plans to do this without raising taxes or by raising new revenues. There will also be no spending cuts because "there is no fat left to cut in the federal budget." according to Republican Tom Delay. How can he possibly accomplish all this?

In order to answer this question we need to go back to the start of his Presidency. After 9/11, Bush created a new government agency called "Homeland Security." This cost America billions of dollars to make us feel safe with duct tape and plastic on our windows. Then to make us safer, we started two, count em, two wars. The President did all of this without a single tax cut and in fact he expanded them. Bush also passed every single spending bill that was put on his desk by congress. How can he accomplish all of this? Well, he started with a surplus left to him by Bill Clinton.

Since 2001, government spending has risen from #1.86 trillion to $2.48 trillion in only four years. That ladies and gentleman is a nice 33% increase. The surplus is now gone and in its wake a record breaking deficit. As Tom Delay has already stated there is no room to cut fat. In 1982 the annual highway bill had 10 projects destined for pork (special projects for special congressmen). The 2005 highway bill has 6,371 projects for nothing but pork projects. Nicely done U.S. Congress! Not a bad way to do business while spending $200 billion to fund the war in Iraq. We our going in debt to rebuild bridges day after day in Iraq (since they are normally destroyed after they are finished being built) and while building bridges to nowhere in Alaska.
The highway bill will cost $286 billion dollars, $36 billion more than Bush said he would accept.

But it is not entirely Bush's fault right? After all Bush could not stop hurricanes from destroying the gulf coast. He could however make damn sure our disaster relief protection program FEMA, was well able to provide for the victims. He could also give government contracts worth millions to the survivors of the gulf coast to rebuild their own cities providing jobs and stability. Bush did neither! FEMA was grossly mishandled by Bush and his well placed cronies. Our President then went on to award KBR (a Halliburton firm) a $16 million dollar contract to help fix the levees. A $100 million dollar contract was given to the Fluor Group (a major GOP donor) to construct temporary housing. Companies like Bechtel and CH2M Hill were given $200 million dollars in contracts while the two companies already have contracts totaling over $3 billion dollars in Iraq. Local construction companies are complaining they are given no work along the Gulf Coast.

Past Presidents such as Franklin Roosevelt cut spending in government by 20% while raising taxes during World War II to help shoulder the cost. President Truman cut spending by 28% and raised taxes during the Korean War slashing programs out of the loved New Deal. Our President Bush continues to promise the moon and the stars without stating where he will get all of this money. The answer to the earlier question, how will he accomplish all of this is simple. He can't and he won't! Try as he might to cut funding in environmental and educational programs, there just isn't enough money. Bush is the most fiscally irresponsible President of all time!

In the end, time will tell how far short he falls in all of his promises. I just hope he comes closer than after 9/11 when he promised firefighters and police the moon, and then two years later, slashed their budgets.-Imperious Opinion