I was just listening to the radio. Paul Krugman, a professor of intl affairs and economics at Princeton and a correspondent for the New York Times was being interviewed.
He was talking about economic effects of the Iraq war. His conclusion was that the war itself wasn't going to have much effect either way.
But the interesting items he pointed out were about Turkey. Remember Turkey, and how they wanted an aid package from the USA? Well, apparently it's about $6 billion in cash, and some loan guarantees later on.
Priorities will shine through - $6 billion is more than President Bush requested for homeland security. So we're actually spending more money to bribe Turkey, than we're spending on equipment for firefighters, paramedics and police who have to respond to terrorist threats, anthrax scares, etc. So the individual states are not purchasing the necessary equipment or are overspending (and thus raising taxes) to pay for this new obligation.
Priorities, part 2 - the $6 billion that the individual states didn't get for homeland security? Well, that's also a microscopic fraction of the $1.74 trillion dollars in tax cuts that Bush has proposed, the vast majority of which will go to the top 1% of the country.
Timing is everything - Turkey also requested the $6 billion in cash immediately. Evidently, they have reason to doubt this administration's reputation and aren't willing to let the Bush administration pay over time in installments.
He was talking about economic effects of the Iraq war. His conclusion was that the war itself wasn't going to have much effect either way.
But the interesting items he pointed out were about Turkey. Remember Turkey, and how they wanted an aid package from the USA? Well, apparently it's about $6 billion in cash, and some loan guarantees later on.
Priorities will shine through - $6 billion is more than President Bush requested for homeland security. So we're actually spending more money to bribe Turkey, than we're spending on equipment for firefighters, paramedics and police who have to respond to terrorist threats, anthrax scares, etc. So the individual states are not purchasing the necessary equipment or are overspending (and thus raising taxes) to pay for this new obligation.
Priorities, part 2 - the $6 billion that the individual states didn't get for homeland security? Well, that's also a microscopic fraction of the $1.74 trillion dollars in tax cuts that Bush has proposed, the vast majority of which will go to the top 1% of the country.
Timing is everything - Turkey also requested the $6 billion in cash immediately. Evidently, they have reason to doubt this administration's reputation and aren't willing to let the Bush administration pay over time in installments.
