"The American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are spent,"

Democrats promise more oversight if they win House

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday that they would investigate spending in Iraq and require government agencies to comply with accounting rules if voters give them control of the House of Representatives in November's elections.

"The American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are spent," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, of California, said at a news conference.

Democrats highlighted a recent report by the Government Accountability Office that found that most federal agencies do not live up to federal accounting standards and cannot fully explain how they spend their money.

Democrats also said that they would set up a committee to make sure that money given to private companies for support operations in Iraq is spent responsibly.

Other elements of the House Democrats' agenda include raising the minimum wage, making college tuition deductible from taxes, and negotiating lower drug prices for Medicare's prescription-drug program.

Reuters: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14229901.htm

that repukes just scream and shout that "Democrats are going to raise taxes"!...but then they don't give a shit that the taxes they already pay are being misused and wasted!

They're so friggin' afraid of "taxes" and "terror"....Sheesh!

that'll bring a good number of people back to our camp.

""A New Direction from where we are now, but it is a direction we were going in during the 90s producing record surpluses. If we had stayed the course we would be debt-free as a nation by 2008. Instead, this Bush Administration and Republican Congress are taking us deeply in debt and they can't even account for the money."

Pelosi: Democrats Want to Take America in a New Direction
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=67567

Reid: Contracting Reform Should Be a Priority for the Senate

6/14/2006

WASHINGTON, June 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today released the following statement after Bush Republicans in the Senate successfully blocked Democratic efforts to reform government contracting.

"On a day the Senate is set to pass $95 billion to fund wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it should be a priority for this Congress to ensure that the American people's money will be honestly and appropriately spent. After all we have learned about incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption in government contracts in Iraq-incompetence that put the safety of our troops at risk-it should be a priority to ensure that these abuses never happen again. Unfortunately, with today's vote Bush Republicans have made clear they do not believe reform is a priority for this Congress."

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=67562

assured that, "all of a sudden", the media will scrutinize what's going on in it . . .

Downtown Omaha is hot property with investors, they are buying old buildings and refurbishing them. Nebraska within the last few years passed legislation allowing historic property to be assessed at pre-renovated rates for 8 years. While I wouldn't have a problem with property tax relief in blighted areas, I don't think that a person who can afford $1.5 million dollar condos should be given the same incentives.

By coincidence I was woke up this morning with the county assessor at my door, he was called to do a new evaluation on my home. While I have had several over the years, this is the first time I was required to sign for it. I was so tired I didn't even read what was written, which I now regret.

Why don't we find that $$ ...might be a good start on paying down the debt.

Then we can confiscate the earnings/worth of any companies that have been war profiteering at the expense of innocent lives. That might help pay down the debt.

Also we can confiscate the media stations that helped sell the war based on lies, and then sell them for a profit.

I don't want them to tell me where the money has been wasted, I want them to get it back! I want them to start paying down the debt... And stop stealing the social security funds while you're at it!!

I don't think they're saying anything different than that. Their focus IS on recovering our tax dollars, but we have to make them accountable for how the tax dollars are spent. That's their focus.