A little Republican Hypocrisy?
Ya gotta love it. Today the Republicans are all so terribly concerned about the tax payers money and the national debt. Too bad they didn’t show that same concern when zillions of our dollars were going to contractors to rebuild Iraq. I think we all remember how well that worked out for us. Here’s a reminder in case you forgot. “Hard lesson: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience” a report on what went right and what went wrong in the reconstruction of Iraq.
More on this report, here from NY Times in December of 2008. The report has now been published.
“American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.”
You can read the rest of the article here.
Were any Republicans paying attention at the time? Is anyone paying attention to this now? The reconstruction is still going on in Iraq and is there as much Republican oversight going on over that as is going on over this stimulus plan? I doubt it.
More on this report, here from NY Times in December of 2008. The report has now been published.
“American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.”
You can read the rest of the article here.
Were any Republicans paying attention at the time? Is anyone paying attention to this now? The reconstruction is still going on in Iraq and is there as much Republican oversight going on over that as is going on over this stimulus plan? I doubt it.
posted by pissed off patricia at 1:38 AM
14 Comments:
plenty of money for contractors over there - but NONE for contractors here
plenty of tax cuts for rich white men - but NONE for people who will actually spend the money
the GOP really wants a revolution dont they?
It's okay if we use taxpayer dollars to blow up brown people but not to house, feed, clothe and edumacate Murkans. You all should know this by now.
Have you heard from the lady about the little dog? I hope he is much, much better today!
I heard Barney Frank say to Sen. DeMint, who was lamenting the big spending bill, that once we get all the numbers, the Iraq war will end up costing taxpayers at least $1 trillion. No, I never heard a single republican talk about spending then.
Obama has a 75% approval rating and the GOP has 24%. The people know what is going on.
It's infuriating because it's so transparent.
Clearly some exposed palms matter more than others. Of course, the GOP will be quick to tell you that greasing palms and giving handouts are two entirely different matters.
You make me laugh, PoP!
sure, PoP, let's throw money at people who don't want us in their country. and, let's let the ship go down in our own. we're the GOP, after all. we've got a choice on who we want to help: people overseas who won't vote for us or people over here who didn't last time.
Actually, I think it would be more accurate to say that the GOP is in favor of spending billions of dollars to not rebuild Iraq. In many cases, the work was done so badly that the jihadis did us a favor by blowing it up.
They threw billions of dollars at contractors who didn't have the slightest idea of how to perform the work they were given. All the while there were plenty of companies, both inside and outside the defense industry, that could have done the job just fine. At least, they could have if the Bush Administration had handled the downfall of the Iraqi government properly.
It's a continuing source of amazement that anyone takes those guys seriously.
Never blame on incompetence what is most likely avarice.
And we've got it in spades.
Back in 2002 I participated in a hobbiest UseNet forum. Politics were generally considered OT, but allowed "around the water cooler." I went off on a rant about war profiteering and the Iraq misadventure, and soon had Haliburton "employees" lining up to defend their company. The post turtle recieved a pretty good thrashing as well - and most of the regulars came to his defense. I wonder how they feel now?
Worse, my idiot sister up and moved to Texas, reportedly with some guy who works for said company, and I haven't heard from her in over 4 years. She's probably in a deprivation chamber being tormented as we speak, or she's gone to the dark side.
I hope to hell people are starting to catch on to who's zoomin' who.
This comment has been removed by the author.
The whole thing makes me sick. And then there's the whole Madoff crap with someone blowing the whistle on him many times over the last 7 years and so one in the SCC listening....no oversight there, either.
The stench is overwhelming.
I love this blog. Patricia, you're not the only one who feels "pissed off". Thanks for allowing us all to "vent." You have some great readers/commenters here!
Peace.
Feel free to drop by, Patricia!
www.lisananetteallender.blogspot.com
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