Article (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040606/ap_on_bi_ge/iraq_cheap_gas_4)

:bike:

We're spending $500 MILLION to give Iraq three months of cheap gas?! What the hell?! Shouldn't we be spending that money on the deficit rather than just trying to make the Iraqis a bit happier?

holy fuck. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE A DEFICIT PEOPLE!!!! STUPID SPENDING!!!!!!!!!!

What's that...the fiscally conservative republicans wasting money?? Naah, can't be...can it? This is what John McCain means when he says this administration is spending like drunken sailors. And how are we going to pay for all of this. How about more tax cuts!! That'll sure help!!

I know it looks like a bad move, but it is an effort to get their economy moving and also a goodwill gesture. Their proces have been as high as 3.50 USD a gallon very recently, so if we can spend 500 mil to jump start an economy and we dont have soend 30 bil additional to support them then it is a good investment.

Originally posted by Beirut_Veteran
I know it looks like a bad move, but it is an effort to get their economy moving and also a goodwill gesture. Their proces have been as high as 3.50 USD a gallon very recently, so if we can spend 500 mil to jump start an economy and we dont have soend 30 bil additional to support them then it is a good investment.

I understand what you are saying. It is very important to jump start the Iraqi economy, the same thing we had to do in Germany and Japan (people in Germany would burn their money because it was cheaper than buying fuel). The problem, however, is our inability to finance these things. We are already starving our social programs at home. Healthcare costs are rising. College tuition is rising. My dad is from Syria, a 3rd world dictatorship. Yet even they had free college tuiton. Not to say that we are worse off than Syria, cetrainly we are much more better off.My point is however, we could have free tuition too if we did not have such a bloated pentagon budget and if we didn't have to fund an unneccisary war. Meanwhile, the deficit is rising. We are handing our children and grandchildren a problem that our current president isn't fit to solve.

Difference between us and Syria is amount of people and we are a capitolist society and of course that means that we pay for some forms of education. There is a way to get a free education, join the military and use the GI bill(new). I understand what you are saying but I am for smaller government and less involvment.

$500 million is not much.

We are committed to Iraq - it is pointless to cherry pick spending items and look at alternative spending in the US. On that note one could say $250 billion - well we could fix the roads, education etc etc. The point is that the logic of defense spending is that we have to spend this money otherwise we wouldn't have any need for roads or schools.

One can argue that the war as a whole was a waste of money and that is a fair position for one to argue, but its academic at this stage - we are in Iraq - it costs money and we have an obligation to bring Iraq back to a state of civilised existance.

Originally posted by Beirut_Veteran
I know it looks like a bad move, but it is an effort to get their economy moving and also a goodwill gesture. Their proces have been as high as 3.50 USD a gallon very recently, so if we can spend 500 mil to jump start an economy and we dont have soend 30 bil additional to support them then it is a good investment. you know bv, i think you have a lot of integrity, and are a very loyal to your cause.....but i just cant believe you dont find anything wrong with what this admin is doing.......good will gesture.....?

would you rather pay for their gas for a short period or support them for years? And yes goodwill is needed, we want them to succeed in a democratic government so then you lead by example.
As for standing up for a cause? This is not my cause, Bush is not the first President to do this. Hell we spend millions bombing Berlin and even more rebuilding it. And of course we supplied them with food, gas and other items to aid them and to get their economy going.