A $20 Million Dollar Party

This is yet another way this crooked bunch in Washington can find to raid the U.S. treasury. It has now been revealed that Senate and House Republicans quietly earmarked $20 million for a "celebration" for victory in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time they knew that both wars are escalating do to their own misguided idea that bombing and killing innocent civilians was the way to "spread democracy". This is taking place while thousands of residents in the Gulf Coast region still have not received the government assistance that was promised to help them return to their respective cities and states and rebuild what has been their home for generations. This is taking place while thousands of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry. This is taking place while school districts can't afford to supply its' children with books and qualified teachers required for even the basic instruction for reading and writing. So much for "no child left behind". The details of this $20 million boondoggle is reported today in the The San Francisco Chronicle. Here are some excerpts: Tucked away in fine print in the military spending bill for this past year was a lump sum of $20 million to pay for a celebration in the nation's capital "for commemoration of success" in Iraq and Afghanistan. And just to make sure they can keep this money available they wrote into that fine print that it will be held over for use in 2007 on a date chosen by King George himself. It was described this way in the original legislation: The original legislation empowered the president to designate "a day of celebration" to commemorate the success of the armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to "issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities." The Pentagon's spin on this comes from a spokesman for the Pentagon: Lt. Col. Brian Maka, a Pentagon spokesman, said late Tuesday that the event was envisioned not so much as a celebration of victory but more as an opportunity for "honoring returning U.S. forces at the conclusion" of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems to me that the U.S. forces would be better served by buying much needed body armor, not a publicity stunt for Republicans to wave the flag for their false patriotism. Read on.....