Speaking of bailouts, this little AP item may have been eclipsed by recent financial news:
House clears huge defense bill, sends it to Senate
By LAURIE KELLMAN – September 24, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bowing to President Bush's demands, the House passed a mammoth package for the Pentagon on Wednesday that contains a pay raise for troops, billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and some political protection for lawmakers during a tense election season.
The 392-39 vote sent the $612 billion defense authorization bill to the Senate, which was expected to clear it this week.
To earn President Bush's signature rather than a veto, House and Senate negotiators dropped several provisions he opposed. They include a ban on private interrogators in U.S. military detention facilities and what would have amounted to congressional veto power over a security pact with Iraq.
Why any congressman at this point is "bowing to Bush's demands" is a mystery. It's frightening that the US's empire costs in a year equal the amount of a supposed one-time financier bailout. Expect worse under McCain and no change under Obama, who told maniac Bill O'Reilly that he "absolutely" believes there is a war against a noun ("terror").