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Return to Article: Dems blast U.S. officials for wasting billions in Iraqi money

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  Hmm, the sides have been chosen and flags unfurled. Both Gunny and the "anonymous" have their points. This is the same battle politicos have been fighting since the 1930's.

  First, Gunny, our Laissez-faire economy of the past was a bust. Overly simplified, ungoverned market places led to the so-called "Corn-Hog" cycle then to the Wall Street crash of '29, the beginnings of your Socialist programs. As for Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, governmental support of libraries, public schools, universities, hospitals, and all the rest, would you throw them all out? The bottom line is you will support social programs either now or later; spread the wealth or fund confinement facilities. You choose.

  Anonymous, pools of money (wealth of the rich) are necessary. They don't just gather their income and sleep on it. They reinvest it in more profit making ventures, spreading it around; or at the very least, give it to financial establishments who do the same. Remember Reagan's "Trickle down effect"? It did work.

  The difficulty lies in the balance and degree of governmental influence, as socialistic societies such as the old Soviet Union found out. My personal observation leads me to the Pendulum theory. Politicos vie for the attention of the loudest special interest groups, placating them until it backfires thus causing a swing in the other direction; reminiscent of that Corn-Hog cycle.

  The government has been elected primarily to manage the overall environment in which we live and work. Seems to me the problem is in degrees, both too much and too little interference has proven bad. Perhaps incremental changes would work better. Your guess is as good as mine. What amazes me is the anger generated by many centralists, like Clinton.

  As much as I dislike his methods, Dubya has fought the downward economic swing that took effect almost the minute he took office with the most effective means possible, a wartime economy. Now, the pendulum swings again.

  Tip off.

  GovExec.com reader Posted February 8, 2007 1:32 PM
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  Gunny,

  Why is it when Democrats give money to help the poor and needy, it's socialism but when the Republicans give money to the rich, the corporations and/or the war profiteers, it's patriotism or spreading democracy or whatever other "governance by sound bite" they're using for the day?

  I don't mind my money going to help those who need it, but I do mind my money going to help those who make millions/billions from corporate welfare and through treason by profiting off the bodies of our military.

  GovExec.com reader Posted February 8, 2007 10:40 AM
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  Let's see the Democrats do a better job!

  GovExec.com reader Posted February 8, 2007 7:52 AM
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  Time out! Reality check here, folks. The primary reason, if not the only reason, the Dems whine about fiscal abuse is when they can't get their hands on the money to give away in their multitude of "Comrades-in-Arms" Socialist programs. Now they have to get inventive and find ways to soak money from somewhere else to ensure the societal deadbeats and intellectual tree-huggers they represent get their fair handout.

  Same old song-and-dance!

  GovExec.com reader Posted February 7, 2007 4:02 PM
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  For our Congressional representatives to point fingers and blame a certain agency for lacking oversight is just plain hypocritical.

  It is our government that is lacking in oversight as a whole. It is our government that wastes billions of dollars annually and not just in Iraq. Our government and especially the Department of Defense is a black hole where money is sucked in and little comes out.

  Our Congressional representatives have put their personal agendas, their pork projects, their windfalls from lobbyists and their little power trips ahead of what is appropriate for our country as a whole. It is the Congress that has ignored the waste and corruption in our government. It is the Congress that has set the unethical example for federal agencies to follow. Years of disregard by Congress has made our government fat, lazy and incompetent. That agency was incapable of managing the funds that went to Iraq. They handed them the money and walked away. That's just what the Congress does with DoD.

  It's time for Congressional representatives to stop with the grandstanding and start cleaning up this government. Do something that we can be proud of for a change.

  Robert M. Posted February 7, 2007 12:49 PM