It Just Makes Sense

But the best reason of all is because... it's the Republican's mess - so why not let them clean it up?

Forget the fact that the right-wing perpetually points the finger at democratic government spending while continually authorizing staggering, unprecidented amounts of money towards the military to ostensibly fight terrorism.

"Terrorism," like "fascism," is one of those words that people routinely apply to almost any behaviour they disapprove of.

- Gwynne Dyer

They cut frivolous liberal expenditures like funding for cancer research and education, give you a check for $600 bones this month, then send another $255 million towards the Iraqi quagmire.

"(Last February) the Pentagon asked Congress for the biggest defence budget since the Second World War: $515 billion, plus an additional $70 billion to cover the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for part of the coming year.

The United States is proposing to spend more on the armed forces, quite apart from the running costs of Iraq and Afghanistan, than it did at the height of the Cold War against the Soviet Union -- and yet almost all the commentary and analysis in the US media has focussed on the spending on the two wars. Even that is a lot of money.

The US Congress has already approved is $190 billion for this year alone. Not only that, but some of the money in the regular defence budget can also be indirectly attributed to America's wars in the Muslim world, like the expenditure on new equipment to replace the weapons that have been destroyed or worn out inthe wars. And there is a great deal more money in the current US defence budget -- probably three times as much -- that has nothing to do with the"war on terror." Even if you accept the deeply suspect proposition that invading foreign countries is a useful way to fight terrorism, invading the target countries (which generally do not inhabit the higher reaches of the technological pecking order) does not require eleven aircraft carriers and fleets of stealth bombers."

- Gwynne Dyer

And just today (July 30th), Bush signed into law another 162-billion-dollar spending bill funding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars well into 2009 -- roughly six months into his successor's term. Then he has the nuts to wave his pen at the press and claim he's stopping the Dems from spending your hard earned money.

Although it is looking very likely that Obama and the Dems may win the 2008 race, do not underestimate the American voters latent desire to continue living under the leadership of a government that embraces gun love, race hate, corporate welfare and perpetual war.

As Dyer smartly points out, another thing that could swing the 2008 election in favor of the Republicans is another large-scale terrorist attack on the United States. Because let's face it, Osama bin Laden is well aware that his greatest recruiting tool in the Arab world is the American military presence in Iraq.