President Bush is poised to sign a $162 billion war spending plan that will pay for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan until the next president takes office. Doesn't this force our next president (either Obama or McCain) to continue the war? This war is an out of control train and not coming to an abrupt stop.
The package is not all bullets and bombs as Congress also approved a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for troops and veterans. It also provides a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits and $2.7 billion in emergency flood relief for the Midwest. Bush was to sign the bill Monday morning in the Oval Office.
The spending bill will bring to more than $650 billion the amount Congress has provided for the Iraq war since it started more than five years ago. For operations in Afghanistan, the total is nearly $200 billion, according to congressional officials. And who says the US Government can't afford national medical insurance?