Who's Laughing Now?

"I submitted the budget today to Congress -- it's on a laptop notebook, an e-budget. It saves paper, saves trees, saves money. I think it's the first budget submitted electronically. And it's a good budget. It's a budget that achieves some important objectives. One, it understands our top priority is to defend our country, so we fund our military, as well as fund the homeland security. Secondly, the budget keeps our economy growing." — President Bush, Cabinet Meeting, February 4

The New York Times published an article today revealing that the Iraqi government expects a surplus as large as $79 billion for its 2008 budget.

www.thewhitehouse.gov projects the 2008 budget deficit to be $389 billion in a mid-session review of fiscal year 2009. The site assures us that the budget "Introduces a new culture of accountability on wasteful earmarks."

Which brings us back to the Times article, and what it tells us about Iraq's surplus:

The figures could be used to argue that because the Iraqi ministries still do not have the capacity to spend their own money, further assistance from the United States is called for, Ms. Alexander said. Or the huge oil revenues could be seen as proof that Iraq has the resources to solve its own problems if it would only use the money.

And in an even more ridiculous twist, the United States has payed Iraq at least $435.6 million in interest on the money because it is held in the Federal Reserve Bank.