Signs of Life

I’m tempted just to bray, “Too little too late!” but any sign of an opposition to this ridiculous black hole for American dollars has to be worth something:

The House debate over a $81.4 billion spending package for war is providing Democrats a platform to assail President Bush's handling of Iraq.

"Why are we writing another check for a mission that's been so badly botched?" asked Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, an anti-war Democrat who has proposed withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. "Who's being held responsible for the misuse of the money we've already approved?"

In spite of criticism of the administration's post-invasion strategy and what Democrats called lapses in accountability by the White House, the House was poised to give Bush much of what he wanted for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Swift passage of the package with bipartisan support is expected in the House, possibly as early as Wednesday. The Senate won't craft its version until next month.

However, the president won't get $590 million to build a U.S. embassy in Baghdad. On Tuesday, the House approved an amendment - on a 258-170 vote - that bars money in the spending package from being used for embassy security, construction and maintenance.

Good fucking cripes. $590 million for an embassy? I mean, how about our deficit? How about fixing all the shit we blew up for the Iraqis before we start building posh accommodations for Negroponte?

Look, when I complain about how much we’re spending, I don’t want it to sound like I resent having the spend the money to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure. I don’t—we broke it and we need to put it back in working order. What I mind is crap like the CPA losing track of $9 billion, and Halliburton fleecing us all over the place, including in Kuwait andAfghanistan. The problem here is a complete lack of accountability, which finally some Dems are starting to bitch and moan about:

While debating the bill, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, criticized what he called the administration's failure to account for war costs and its lack of a coherent strategy for success in Iraq.

"This is far from a perfect way of running Operation Iraqi Freedom," Skelton said.

Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said, "The full cost of this war is being revealed a little bit at a time on the installment plan."

The House bill, which would provide $76.8 billion for defense-related expenses, is roughly $500 million less than the president's request.

Can we add $10 back in to get a leash for ol’ President Spendy McSpenderson?

One bright spot:

On Tuesday, the House added $100 million to the bill for Sudan relief through an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.

It’s about time.

Imagine how much more we might have been able to do with that missing $9 billion.