SURE>>>WHY NOT.....We have the dough
Bush seeks funding for Iraq, Afghanistan
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush is pushing Congress to provide more money for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan — funds the Pentagon says it needs by the first week of May.
"I applaud the House and Senate for their strong support of my supplemental funding request for our troops serving on the front lines," Bush said Saturday in his radio address.
"This funding will help provide the weapons, ammunition, spare parts and equipment that our troops need to do their job," he said. "I urge Congress to come together to resolve their remaining differences, and send me a bill quickly."
House and Senate negotiators are expected to act soon to sort out differences between their versions of the $81 billion spending bill. Both versions would push the total cost of combat and reconstruction past $300 billion since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
They give the president much of the money he requested, but the bills differ slightly over what part would fund military operations and how much would go toward foreign aid. Other issues to be resolved include immigration laws, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, military death benefits and the fate of an aircraft carrier.
Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch, also prodded Congress to support cuts to Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled that is run by federal and state governments.
In February, Bush proposed $8.5 billion in Medicaid cuts over five years. But the Republican-controlled Congress, leery of making politically unpopular cuts, has not been much help.