Vincent Feli Boy’s Blog

WASHINGTON - The Senate Tuesday kicked off debate on legislation to add a grab bag of domestic programs to President Bush’s war request, including work permits for immigrant farm labor and heating subsidies for the poor. The White House renewed its veto threat. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., brought up the add-ons in an unusual move designed to win their adoption _ over opposition from the White House and GOP conservatives _ before turning to companion legislation providing $165 billion to conduct military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring.

The bill before the Senate would add more than $28 billion to Bush’s budget request for this year and next, with almost $50 billion more for a big expansion of veterans benefits under the GI Bill from 2010-2018. Reid faces enormous procedural headaches in getting the war funding bill _ and its various add-ons _ passed this week. Democrats have divided the war funding bill into two components: non-war add-ons and Iraq funding and policy restrictions. Reid has signaled he wants the non-war extras to get a vote before the war funding itself, but it’s a high-wire strategy.

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WASHINGTON - President Bush and Democrats controlling Congress continued on course toward a veto confrontation Tuesday as Bush said he would veto any attempt to add a popular veteran benefits bill to his $108 billion war funding request. Bush’s hard line in a Rose Garden news conference could virtually assure a veto of the hotly contested war funding bill. Democrats are likely to add extended unemployment benefits and new education funding for post-Sept. 11 veterans to the war funding bill, along with a few other add-ons.

When asked about the popular plan to increase education benefits for troops returning from Iraq, however, Bush held firm. “I made my position very clear to Congress and I will not accept a supplemental over $108 billion or a supplemental that micromanages the war, ties the hands of our commanders,” Bush said. “We will work with Congress on these veterans’ benefits …. But the $108 billion is $108 billion.” The hard line came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top congressional leaders held a rally for the Iraq war veterans measure on the West Front of the Capitol.

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The firm raised the money from investors including the Washington State Investment Board and GE Asset Management, Warburg Pincus said in an e-mailed statement Monday. The New York- based firm surpassed the $12 billion target for the new fund, which is almost twice as big as its previous $8 billion pool. Warburg Pincus raised the money after the surge in U.S. subprime mortgage defaults roiled the credit markets that private equity firms depend on for loans to finance their deals.

Banks are still struggling to clear a backlog of about $230 billion in LBO debt they’ve committed to finance, damping their interest in funding takeovers. ”The firm is well-positioned to perform, particularly in light of today’s turbulent market conditions,” Joseph Dear, executive director of the Washington State Investment Board, said in today’s statement. Buyout firms announced $89 billion of takeovers this year, about a third as much as in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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WASHINGTON - The White House defended its $108 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Wednesday, only to be upbraided by senators in both parties for taking a hard line against efforts to add money for domestic programs. At a sometimes combative Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, White House budget director Jim Nussle chided lawmakers for a “sky-is-the-limit mind-set” regarding “the desire of some in Congress to load up this troop funding bill with tens of billions in additional spending.” Democrats and Republicans alike questioned why U.S. taxpayers should provide an additional $2.9 billion for reconstruction efforts in Iraq at the same time the Iraqi government’s coffers are overflowing with revenues because of record oil prices.

“Here is a country that’s making billions of dollars at our expense and yet we pay for their reconstruction,” said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. “I’m going to have a very difficult time going home and telling the people of Idaho that we’re going to spend their money while Iraqi money is drawing interest in some bank somewhere in the world,” said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., noted reports of rampant waste and corruption in Iraqi government ministries and suggested that the Iraqi government match any U.S. reconstruction funds provided in the upcoming war funding bill.

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Bush is requesting $108.1 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30, in addition to the $70 billion Congress approved late last year.

Lawmakers added about $17 billion in domestic spending in approving those war funds. “A bill to fund our troops that are serving in harm’s way should not be transformed into a vehicle for lawmakers to fund domestic programs,” Nussle told the Senate Appropriations Committee. His stand may spark a clash with Democratic leaders, who have suggested using the measure to help stimulate the economy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, favors adding spending for summer-job programs, unemployment benefits and infrastructure spending. Panel chairman Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said he will add spending for roads, bridges and airports to the bill and criticized what he called Bush’s willingness to “reconstruct Baghdad” while refusing to spend “one thin dime” at home.

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