Bush, Cheney care only for the wealthy

Who or what is being responsible? Here we go again. The Bush administration is alleging that the Democrats are being irresponsible for holding up the emergency spending bill that primarily funds the Iraq war. This is the seventh such bill since the start of this war, totaling about $1 trillion (so far).

During this time, the Bush administration has not properly budgeted for this war, because there is no room for such expenditures unless there is an increase in revenues. And then there is Congress. During Republican control, there were no debates on the consequences of large tax breaks for the wealthy, no debates on the costs of starting a war with Iraq, no debates on paying full retail price for prescription drugs, no debates on an energy policy, but instead giving Bush everything he and the wealthy wanted.

So now we are racking up huge deficits, putting Social Security and Medicare at risk, while the pharmaceutical industry, oil industry and the Halliburtons of the country are getting obscenely richer.

For education, grants and student loans are being reduced, the "No Child Left Behind" policy is stripping revenues from public school systems, all while Bush and Republicans favor school vouchers, so parents can send their children to whatever school they want (including wealthy parents).

Now that the Democrats have the majority in Congress, Bush vetoes spending bills that help the working class. It would be irresponsible to spend $35 billion (for five years) for children's health care, but it is OK to spend $1 trillion (five years) for the Iraq war, $1.2 trillion for Medicare prescription drugs (for 10 years), and countless billions more for the Halliburtons of the country. The Bush and Republican definition for being responsible is "to give lots and lots of money to the wealthy."

Klaus Trieb

Hoffman Estates