Fiscal Sanity, At Last

It is so comforting to know that GWB notices the little things that might hurt America.

"President Bush warned Congress [6/16/07] that he will use his veto power to stop runaway government spending.

"The American people do not want to return to the days of tax-and-spend policies," Bush said in his radio address (Bush Vows to Halt Excessive Spending.)"

Fiscal responsibility is now on the presidential platter, and GWB will attempt to rein in government spending.

"The House passed a $37 billion budget for the Homeland Security Department on Friday, but Republicans rallied enough votes to uphold a promised veto from Bush. The measure exceeds Bush's request for the department by $2.1 billion."

But a mere $2.1 Billion is what's got the presidential shorts in a wad. Now this I can't buy. That's 2,000 million dollars--roughly 100 hours of expenditure for the Iraq War. Four days of the On the Road in Iraq show.

Good show, GWB--I surely feel my taxes being spent wisely. Thanks for your munificent fiscal oversight.

And let's talk Homeland Security. The entire apparatus was created ostensibly to protect America from the insidious terrorist threat. The threat is continually portrayed as being that of al Qaida. We invaded Afghanistan supposedly to neutralize that threat. One country then became two, and we are playing around with countless others.

This is why 35-37 Billion U.S. taxpayer dollars are allocated to address the issue. Both parties obviously agree that this is necessary and required, do-or-die legislation.

Meanwhile, Gen. David Petraeus, top American commander in Iraq doing what commanders do best, said recently, "the U.S. military has launched a large offensive operation in several al-Qaida strongholds around Baghdad that the group is using as bases for car bomb operations (U.S. Find IDs of 2 GIs Missing in Iraq.)"

I'm sure this is meant to reassure us that we are not digging our own grave. That he and his troops are keeping those car bombs from being ferried across the deserts and waterways, bombs destined for implantation in a vehicle from a used car lot near you.

But what happens next? Are those nasty al Qaida-types prosecuted and sent to places reserved for the worst of the worst? Are they held as POW's? What happens to them?

The U.S. is spending hundreds of Billions to neutralize this threat, but little progress is seen by this Ranger. How does attacking al Qaida strongholds in Iraq make my neighborhood any safer?

Possibly, doubling the Homeland Security budget will make America twice as safe?