Topic: National Priorities Project

The magnitude and meaning of the proposed bailout: What $700 billion for Wall Street means on Main Street

September 24, 2008 |

Northampton, MA (9.23.08) ~~ The plan proposed by President Bush and Secretary Paulson for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street is difficult for most people to comprehend. National Priorities Project, a non-partisan organization that offers research and analysis of federal spending priorities, is offering an analysis of what $700 billion means to taxpayers.

“It is extremely difficult for most of us to get our minds around what this extraordinary amount of money means.  We hear every day about spending cuts to infrastructure and social services. Now the current Administration is proposing to spend more than what is currently allocated for the U.S. War in Iraq on this Wall Street bailout.  It is critically important that we urge our elected representatives to take a close and careful look at the trade offs involved in their decisions.”

~~ Jo Comerford, Executive Director of National Priorities Project.

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GAO Report triggers controversy; Pentagon seeks ‘revisions’

By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 30, 2007 |

The mandated and much anticipated report on the status of the Iraq war isn’t even out yet and already the backpedaling is under way: Pentagon officials are asking for revisions, Bush politicos want the standards set for a democratized Iraqi regime lowered to make the record of insufficient progress look better on paper, and the D.C. powers that be are taking the stance that “more time” is needed to pull the Iraq debacle together. After all, if you can’t meet the standards (goals, objectives), dumb down those standards (goal, objectives). Seems to be working for America’s Army recruiters …

The report will be presented to Congress Tuesday, and President Bush will present his view of the data on September 15th in an attempt to validate his push for continuation of the multi-billion war effort and continued presence on Battlefield Iraq. The report, supposedly the product of military leaders including General David Petraeus in Iraq who are “assessing” the status of post-Saddam Iraq, is in fact being amended, adjusted and otherwise penned by the White House. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are expected to speak before Congress on the 11th or 12th of September. «Read the rest of this article»

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