Congress Spends More

So...the $109 billion dollar emergency spending bill for the war and the Katrina recovery includes an extra 4 billion in farm aid?

Says Bush:

"Congress is considering a piece of legislation that will test its commitment to spending restraint," Bush said in an address to the American Council of Engineering Companies. "I've requested a bill that would provide emergency funds for the war on terror and hurricane relief. Unfortunately, there are some here in Washington trying to load that bill up with unnecessary spending. This bill is for emergency spending, and it should be limited to emergency measures."

It's a rare day I get to agree with Bush. This is at best the wrong time to work these in (assuming they're not a waste altogether). Note that Bush does have an option besides whining. He could veto it. Not only might it help reign in the spenders in Congress, but it would be a bold, constitutionally supported, adult thing to do. At this point Congress knows that Bush won't veto anything because, for whatever reason (pride, a bet, dared by a frat brother?) it's important to him not to. Of course it's rare to find a person willing to vote against a bill that "supports the troops", much less veto one.

This addiction to having 100 billion+ dollar bills on top of the budget has to stop. We've been in 2 wars for 3 years now. Barring the addition of a 3rd war, we should know what it costs and plan for it. We should stop giving congress extra opportunities to spend money. By which I mean we should stop letting congress give themselves extra opportunities to spend money.

UPDATE: who are the American Council of Engineering Companies?