Albio Sires: “on Tax Day, Americans have a right to ask why the Bush administration continues to spend taxpayer dollars on an Iraq war…”

“on Tax Day, Americans have a right to ask why the Bush administration continues to spend taxpayer dollars on an Iraq war that has no end in sight and no plans for success. Today, President Bush will spend more than $338 million in Iraq. What exactly does that mean for the taxpayer sending in his or her form today? The typical taxpayer covers the cost of the war in Iraq for only one-half a second. And while we continue to ship billions of dollars to Iraq while our economy is going south and our budget deficit continues to hit record highs every year, the Iraqi government currently has a surplus and is expecting to receive $40 billion this year in oil revenues. Can someone please make sense of this policy? Madam Speaker, the American taxpayer has every right to demand more accountability from Washington. Congressional Democrats continue to propose a change in policy, one that shifts more responsibility to the Iraqis themselves. They can certainly afford it. Unfortunately, President Bush and his supporters in Congress ignore the American people and congressional Democrats who do not want to see taxpayer dollars wasted in Iraq any longer.”