Monday, February 04, 2008
Smirk's Last Gift
The self-described compassionate conservative president's 3.1 trillion budget announced today is awash in red ink but protects his pet tax cuts and includes an 8.1 increase for "security funding in the areas of the budget controlled by annual appropriations" (AP).
The usual mumbo jumbo accompanied the announcement of the budget.
- "Two key principles guided the development of my budget — keeping America safe and ensuring our continued prosperity," Bush said in his budget message to Congress. "As commander in chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people."
Yes, there are spending cuts......"$196 billion in savings over the next five years in the government's giant health care programs — Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor." The programs -- entitlements, according to Republicans -- face reductions while targeted tax cuts that benefit a very small percentage of people at the top of the income pyramid are needed for "continued prosperity".
See full report by the Associated PressDoublespeak, smoke and mirrors ? They are hallmarks of the Bush administration.
- AP: WASHINGTON -The $515.4 billion in Pentagon spending for 2009 that President Bush proposed to Congress on Monday does not include the cost of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Bush asked for $70 billion as an "emergency allowance" for war costs for the first part of the budget year, which begins Oct. 1. The White House said it would request more — probably at least another $100 billion, if current war costs are a guide — "once the specific needs of our troops are better known."
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Current Turkish government is dominated by conservative Muslims. The BBC reported:
Thousands of Turks have rallied in Ankara to protest against a government plan to allow women to wear the Islamic headscarf in Turkish universities. The protestors fear such a move would usher in a stricter form of Islam in Turkey, which is a secular state. Turkey's parliament is expected to approve a constitutional amendment to ease the ban next week. |
Fundamentalists -- no matter whether they are Muslims, Christians, or Hindus -- have the same mindset. The plan by the so called "devout" Muslims in Turkey is along the same line as attempts by conservative Christians here in the United States to support mandatory prayers in school and display of Ten Commandments and other symbols on public grounds.
