The Bush administration’s request for Iraq aid — $87 billion — is more than the combined total of all state budget deficits in the United States. The Bush administration has proposed absolutely no funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact the President’s tax cuts helped drive down state revenues, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Also, $87 billion is enough to pay the 3.3 million people who have lost jobs under George W. Bush $26,363 each! The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of this year provides zero benefits to “workers who exhausted their regular, state unemployment benefits and cannot find work.”All told, two-thirds of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits.

Alan L. Light

Iowa City, Iowa