Must Read: Democrats Plan To Take Control Of Iraq Spending

Today, the New York Times reports that Democrats plan to assert more control over the Bush Administration's managing of the Iraq war by demanding a better accounting of the war's cost and will include war spending in the regular budget - a move recommended by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. According to the Congressional Research Service, spending on the Iraq War alone costs the U.S. $8 billion each month and reports of waste, abuse and lack of GOP Congressional oversight have contributed to the cost of war. Democrats are offering a new direction in Iraq that exercises Congressional oversight and roots out abuses of taxpayer dollars in war spending.

DEMOCRATS PLAN TO TAKE CONTROL OF IRAQ SPENDING
By Carl Hulse
The New York Times
December 14, 2006

"Frustrated by the Bush administration's piecemeal financing of the Iraq war, Democrats are planning to assert more control over the billions of dollars a month being spent on the conflict when they take charge of Congress in January.

"In interviews, the incoming Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees said they would demand a better accounting of the war's cost and move toward integrating the spending into the regular federal budget, a signal of their intention to use the Congressional power of the purse more assertively to influence the White House's management of the war. ...

"Congressional control over the money for the war is one of the most powerful weapons Democrats will have in trying to influence administration policy toward Iraq. They can use both the budget and subsequent spending bills to impose restrictions on how the money is spent and demand more information from the White House. ..."

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