Wanna send more troops to Iraq Afghanistan? It’s gonna cost you. Here are a few highlights on the fiscal side of war, stolen directly from the New York Times, because I make a point to keep news free.
* Gen. McChyrstal’s preferred option of adding 40,000 troops would cost $40 billion to $54 billion per year.
* Even going with a lesser number of say 30,000 troops would wipe out the $26 billion to be saved next year when US troops leave Iraq.
* Figure a rough baseline of $1 million per soldier per year. That’s up from an estimate of $390,000 in 2006, largely because of the unique challenges posed by Afghanistan. Mountainous terrain can result in a $400 gallon of fuel.
* A troop increase could push the overall military budget to as high as $734 billion, a politically dicey prospect for Obama. The Bush team’s peak was $667 billion.
Where to dump the poor suckers at Gitmo? How about just west of Chicago? The proposed prison is 150 miles from Chicago, in Thompson, Illinois. There’s already active opposition from the proposed move, so more to come, as Gitmo is supposedly closing in January.
Won’t call Obama a socialist? Get out of office. Any possibility of a sane Republican in power just declined.
Going Rogue, from both sides of the page. What she wants, according to Politico-
* Build her base: Shunning the big cities, and even the early-primary states, Palin is heading straight for Palin Country—places like Fort Wayne, Ind., and Birmingham, Ala.—to reconnect with supporters and nurture their “their powerful emotional connection to her.”
* Get even: The desire to settle scores with the McCain campaign seems to have trumped conventional wisdom that it’s stupid to “bring yourself down to the level of staffers.”
* Stiff the media: Other than Barbara Walters, the mainstream media won’t be getting a piece of the action.
* Put the GOP on notice: Every mobbed Barnes & Noble talk will serve as a reminder that she can’t be ignored—or controlled.
* Look serious: She’ll be trying to undo the damage wrought by Katie Couric, her early retirement and her (speaking of out-of-control) daughter’s boyfriend.
And what she “forgot to mention (or cleverly inserted)”, according to Gawker
* John McCain: Palin claims his campaign charged her $50,000 to vet her, which the RNC was supposed to reimburse…when McCain-Palin won.
* Katie Couric: Palin used the “biased, ‘badgering,’ and ignorant” CBS anchor’s stylist during the campaign.* That infamous makeover: She claims the campaign forced her family to buy $150,000 worth of new clothes.
* Legal bills: Hers had reached $500,000 by the time she resigned as governor.
* Yes, she does read: Her favorite books are “middle school classics” The Pearl and Animal Farm.
Paul Krugman on the economy- make more jobs, dumbass.
“We need to start doing something more than, and different from, what we’re already doing. And the experience of other countries suggests that it’s time for a policy that explicitly and directly targets job creation.”
Time for a rant- Democrats should be worried next year. Apparently Republicans have gone from a 2 to 4 point lead in a generic election, causing no great reason for panic, but letting us all know where things stand. This is completely unacceptable. The Democratic party was supposed to have two years of uninterrupted dominance. What we’ve actually seen is ten months of dilly-dallying and in fighting with these blue dog fools. Olyimpia Snowe and Susan Collins are better Democrats then most of you weak willed bastards. Get a back bone and pass something that means anything, ANYTHING of value, or watch the seats start emptying out and your base (me) freaking the crap out and trying to get someone new in your own seat, because you’re not using any of yours.
The RNC has been covering abortion in it’s insurance policy since 1991.
Ass hat birther Lou Dobbs might be making a run for office, and it’s not great news for the “conservative” movement.
Still think global warming is a bunch of hooey? Tell that to the iceberg the size of Jamica, or his 2,300 foot long buddy headed towards New Zealand.
Stress is up, and more Americans are smoking. Maybe we can start smoking inside bars again.
The government has seized several properties related to Iran. For the life of me, I can’t find out more about this, but I’ll keep checking over the weekend.
