Originally Posted by Bucco

A review of this mornings headlines in the area of transparency...

"$100 billion bill to fund U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is rapidly accumulating extra items such as money for military aircraft the Pentagon doesn't want and possibly a scheme to jump-start sagging auto sales.

The cars and planes are not directly linked to the U.S. war effort. But they are typical of Congress' penchant for loading bills with unrelated spending in hopes the funds will sail through on the strength of the main legislation.

President Barack Obama originally sought $83.4 billion for the two wars and more foreign aid for countries like Pakistan.

But then he too sought more -- $4 billion extra to combat H1N1 swine flu and $5 billion to back credit lines to the International Monetary Fund, which is trying to help developing countries weather the global economic downturn."

http://www.reuters.com/article/featu.../idUSN08333615

THEN....

"Obama repackages stimulus plans with old promises"

"Neither the acceleration nor the jobs goal are new. Both represent a White House repackaging of promises and projects to blunt criticism that the effects haven't been worth the historic price tag. And the job estimate is so murky, it can never be verified."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090609/D98MRQU80.html

THEN THIS OPED FROM THE WSJ

"The Media Fall for Phony 'Jobs' Claims The Obama Numbers Are Pure Fiction."

"Saved or created" has become the signature phrase for Barack Obama as he describes what his stimulus is doing for American jobs. His latest invocation came yesterday, when the president declared that the stimulus had already saved or created at least 150,000 American jobs -- and announced he was ramping up some of the stimulus spending so he could "save or create" an additional 600,000 jobs this summer. These numbers come in the context of an earlier Obama promise that his recovery plan will "save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124451592762396883.html

I hope this is a sign that somebody is waking up to one of the most political White Houses and congressional leadership in history hiding under pretty speaking ! He sure did learn his lessons well while in Chicago !!!