WHY DOES THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ACT LIKE IT JUST CAME INTO OFFICE !

I mean where have they been?

Tony Snow's and Dick Cheney's responses to the continuing problems at Walter Reed Hospital, other DOD hospitals and the DVA hospitals would lead one to believe that the Bush Administration just look office this past January. And the hospital controversy isn't the beginning. They responded this way since November 8, 2006.

And I thought they had been in office since January 2001.

BUSH / CHENEY GONE BY LABOR DAY

Apparently everyone including Fox News now sees what I saw two years ago, namely that George Bush and Dick Cheney will not be President and Vice-President, respectively come Labor Day. Read the link below to see what I've been saying.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251565,00.html

I'll have more the say about this later.

363 TONS OF CASH

Yes probably like you I was surprised to hear that so much cash was just thrown in Iraq by the Provisional Authority. So this morning I was determined to get up and write a blog about this story only to find that others already have and there was no need to re-invent it. Attached are several good articles about this story. The first was written two years ago - when Congress should have been looking into it but the Republican majority did nothing.

http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive2005/february/9_billion_missing.htm

This article provides a lot more detail into the whole story. Especially interesting are all the comments - particularly - 363 tons of cash requires 18 tractor trailers to move that much at one time.

http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/6/205743/7035

And, finally here is an article from ALL SPIN ZONE Progressive Politics Writ Large

"How much does $4,000,000,000 (in $100 bills) weigh? About 363 tons. That’s the rough total of the booty that was transfered from the U.S. Federal Reserve in New York to Baghdad in 2003 and 2004. Think about that for a moment."

"My profession is (partly) logistics. A tractor trailer can legally carry about 45,000 pounds - for the sake of argument, we’ll call it 20 tons. Our government transfered the equivalent of 18 tractor trailer loads of $100 bills into a wild west war zone over a period of 6 months. No one has ever been able to account for the money, and let’s be clear that $4 billion is just the tip of the iceberg."

"Where’d the money go?"

"I’ve heard some lame-assed excuses for shit before, but former Iraq proconsul L. Paul Bremer’s testimony today on Capitol Hill pretty much takes the cake. Bremer should have been arrested and put in leg irons immediately after the hearing. This is friggin’ unbelievable."

"What’s even more unbelievable is one GOP representative’s response:"

“We are in a war against terrorists, to have a blame meeting isn’t, in my opinion, constructive,” said Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican."

Demand Change!

TROOPS GO INTO BATTLE WITH ONLY THEIR BOOTS

Not since Valley Forge as the American army been in such pityful shape. From the beginning, the American people have heard from the media and from letters send home by our troops serving in Iraq that they are without essential equipment necessary to preform their role. While Donald Rumsfield, Secreatary of Defense dismissed such concerns with his famous quote, the American army hasn't faced this type of crisis since the American Revolution.

THIS POST FROM 'THINK PROGRESS' - JANUARY 31 BY PAYSON

The Bush administration claims that any congressional resolution opposing escalation would hurt the morale of U.S. troops. “It would be, I think, detrimental from the standpoint of the troops,” Vice President Cheney said last week.

Cheney should spend less time on non-binding resolutions and more on equipping our forces. An audit by the Pentagon’s Inspector General released to Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) shows that U.S. soldiers have had to go without the necessary weapons, armor, vehicles, and equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan:

The Inspector General found that the Pentagon hasn’t been able to properly equip the soldiers it already has. Many have gone without enough guns, ammunition, and other necessary supplies to “effectively complete their missions” and have had to cancel or postpone some assignments while waiting for the proper gear, according to the report from auditors with the Defense Dept. Inspector General’s office. Soldiers have also found themselves short on body armor, armored vehicles, and communications equipment, among other things, auditors found.

“As a result, service members performed missions without the proper equipment, used informal procedures to obtain equipment and sustainment support, and canceled or postponed missions while waiting to receive equipment,” reads the executive summary dated Jan. 25. Service members often borrowed or traded with each other to get the needed supplies, according to the summary.

More bombshells are likely to come soon. Following a letter last year from Slaughter to the Pentagon, the Inspector General’s office reported two ongoing audits into the procurement of armored vehicles and body armor for American soldiers. “The results of those studies will be available in July and October of 2007, respectively,” Slaughter’s office says.

The following articles offer further information:

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/01/30/humvees/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901584.html

http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2007/db20070130_624241.htm