Senate gives Bush his defense budget request

[dogday]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday agreed to give President George W. Bush the money he wanted for the Pentagon next year and narrowly defeated a measure that could have scuttled permanent extensions of his tax cuts.

The Senate was trying to wrap up work by Friday on a nearly $2.8-trillion budget blueprint for fiscal 2007, which starts on October 1. While the budget bill is nonbinding, it does influence lawmakers' decisions later in the year on federal spending.

Still to come is a Senate fight over whether to scrap a controversial budget provision aimed at opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In debate on Tuesday, the Senate agreed to put back $3 billion into Pentagon accounts that was taken out of Bush's budget request by the Senate Budget Committee. The higher funding would be offset by reducing travel and administrative accounts of several agencies, including the Pentagon's.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-03-14T232613Z_01_N14363695_RTRUKOC_0_US-ECONOMY-BUDGET-CONGRESS.xml

$2.8-trillion FREAKING DOLLARS!!!!!!

[RC]

1. I think I'm going to be sick.

What the hell is wrong with this country!

[dogday]

2. Let's just drop more programs for

Vets, children, the aged and infirmed to kill Iraqis.... Our tax dollars paying for Iraqi health care and a US citizen can't even get health care here.....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Erect bogeyman, payoff "defense" industry, receive campaign

contributions, wave flag, erect new bogeyman. Works every time.

[mom cat]

4. Who voted for permanent tax cuts for the rich? This has to be a

major campaign issue.