Bush Budget Delivers the Bacon

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Feb 7, 2007 President Bush's outrageous military budget has nothing do with fighting terrorism but everything to do with pumping up the profits of the administration's generous political donors in the defense industry. So, the question is: Will the Democrats have the guts to stop this betrayal of the public trust? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Military Spending Boggles the Mind

Staff / Truthdig Jan 20, 2007 The Pentagon estimates that the cost of the Iraq war will reach $8.4 billion a month this year, or $9.7 billion if you include Afghanistan. That's up from $8 billion a month last year, and $4.4 billion back in 2003. Either America was getting twice as much war for half the price four years ago, or someone is inflating his budget. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Flags Down Balanced Budget Bandwagon

Staff / Truthdig Jan 4, 2007 The same George W. Bush who presided over record deficits and never vetoed a spending bill made an effort on Wednesday to co-opt the Democrats' goal of balancing the budget by 2012. Exactly how he'll reconcile that aim with making his tax cuts permanent remains a mystery, although Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., has an idea: "Talk is cheap." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Truthdiggers of the Week: Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes

Staff / Truthdig Dec 23, 2006 This week Truthdig salutes Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes for uncovering the true cost of the war in Iraq. Last year Nobel Prize-winning economist Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Bilmes estimated the total price tag for Bush's misadventure in Mesopotamia at $2.267 trillion -- a tad higher than the $350 billion to $500 billion so often discussed. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Condi: Still Drinking the Kool-Aid

Staff / Truthdig Dec 22, 2006 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated on Thursday that she still believed Iraq would emerge "as a country that is a stabilizing factor" for the Mideast, and that President Bush would not ask for continued investment if he -- and she -- did not believe the venture was worthwhile. Well, that's good to know. For a few years there, it seemed like they didn't know what they were doing. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Dennis Kucinich’s Showdown With the Democratic Leadership

Joshua Scheer / Truthdig Dec 7, 2006 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) criticizes the leadership of his own party for announcing Tuesday that it would support a massive increase in spending for the Iraq war. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

The Cost of War Mounts

Staff / Truthdig Dec 5, 2006 The Army says military equipment is breaking down faster than it can be repaired, and has asked for more money. The estimated cost for repairs is $17 billion to $19 billion annually, and Congress has already approved an extra $23.8 billion for emergency maintenance in 2007. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Rep. Dennis Kucinch: No More Money for War on Iraq

Joshua Scheer / Truthdig Dec 5, 2006 In a Truthdig interview, the Democratic congressman argues that the Pentagon's new spending proposal would not only escalate the Iraq war but could be used to fund an attack on Iran. Read the Gordon England memo discussed in the interview. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Reminder: Bush Is No Fiscal Conservative

Staff / Truthdig Nov 21, 2006 Federal spending is up 40 percent since President Bush took office So, what are Bush's true fiscal priorities? Well, to paraphrase Bill Maher, he gives a lot to Paris Hilton types, and he spends even more <a href="http://englishaljazeeranet/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=18136" title="NOT killing">NOT killing Osama bin Laden. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mystery Senator Blocks Sunshine Bill

Staff / Truthdig Aug 28, 2006 A bipartisan Senate bill that would have created a public database of all government contracts has been blocked by an unknown senator. The bill, which passed its committee unanimously, can now move forward only if the mysterious senator who placed it on "secret hold" removes the constraint. (h/t: Crooks and Liars) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

AP Exposes ‘Reverse Robin Hood’ Degenerates

Staff / Truthdig Aug 15, 2006 From the AP: "The federal program that provides legal help to poor Americans turns away half of its applicants for lack of resources. But that hasn't stopped its executives from lavishing expensive meals, chauffeur-driven cars and foreign trips on themselves." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Three Hundred Twenty Billion Little Pieces

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2006 America has allocated just under $320 billion to date on the Iraq war--a price tag so staggeringly large that it has almost become an abstraction. To help put that number into context, we're asking our readers to chime in with suggestions as to what else you could buy for $320 billion. (Primer: $320 billion would fund America's adoption of the Kyoto Protocol.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )