"Every little helps"

In the Washington Post, E.J. Dione reminds us:

Here's a fact getting far too little attention: The cost this year alone of the Bush tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 comes to $225 billion. In other words, the revenue lost because of tax cuts going through this year without any congressional action would more than pay the costs of Katrina recovery.

That lost revenue could also address much of the reconstruction cost in Iraq. But we all know that Bush Inc. isn't going to roll back those tax cuts for the hyper-rich -- so do they plan to finance the Iraqi reconstruction?

From the Observer (UK):

An extraordinary appeal to Americans from the Bush administration for money to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq has raised only $600, The Observer has learnt. Yet since the appeal was launched earlier this month, donations to rebuild New Orleans have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars.

The public's reluctance to contribute much more than the cost of two iPods to the administration's attempt to offer citizens 'a further stake in building a free and prosperous Iraq' has been seized on by critics as evidence of growing ambivalence over that country. ***

It is understood to be the first time that a US government has made an appeal to taxpayers for foreign aid money.

Maybe Mr. Bush could get some cheerleaders to organize a car-wash to fund the Iraqi reconstruction.