Times Watch for September 24, 2003
Rebuilding Plans for War-Torn America?
Paul Bremer, U.S. administrator in Iraq, went on Capitol Hill to defend Bushs
$87 billion request for additional aid. David Firestones Tuesday dispatch on
Bremers appearance passes on, without comment, rather shaky Democratic
criticism equating rebuilding in war-torn Iraq (a country severely lacking
infrastructure) with rebuilding in the United States (whatever that means).
Firestone writes: But skeptical members of the committee seemed more concerned
about the price tag. Democratic senators said that the request was probably far
smaller than the eventual total would be and that similar rebuilding plans at
home were being neglected.
For the rest of Firestones piece on Bremer before
Congress,
click here.
Paul Bremer
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Budget
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Congress
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David Firestone
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Iraq War
Why Wont Bush Apologize to the UN?
From Wednesdays
front-page story by Steven Weisman on Bushs speech to the United Nations:
Without apology, Mr. Bush declared that the Security Council had been right to
demand that Iraq destroy its illegal weapons and prove that it had done so and
right to vow serious consequences if Iraq refused to comply. The United
States, he said, had not only unseated Saddam Hussein but also defended the
credibility of the United Nations. But that was not how others, from the
secretary general of the United Nations to the French president, saw it. The
invasion of Iraq, to them, remained a dangerous act of unilateralism now beset
by intractable problems.
From Bushs Remarks Draw
Skepticism, a same-day piece by
Felicity Barringer: Most diplomats and scholars focused on Mr. Bush's unapologetic tone
on the subject of the war in Iraq.
Felicity Barringer
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Iraq War
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United Nations
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Steven Weisman
More
Phantom Budget Cuts
How Years of Budget Cuts Put New Jerseys Children
at Risk attempts to explain the dire straits of New Jerseys foster care
system. Tuesdays story by Leslie Kaufman and Richard Lezin Jones points the
finger: Looking back on the failure of New Jersey's foster care, one
explanation jumps off the pages of the state's budgets. In the last decade, the
number of children under the state's care rose alarmingly, to 58,000 from
40,000. Yet for fiscal year 2003, the state's spending on the child welfare
agency had barely budged over the 10 years, up only to $312 million from $275
million. But that modest rise in spending captures only part of the story. The
state, in the fiscal years 1995 through 1999, actually cut spending by $67
million despite some of the most robust economic conditions ever.
But notice that despite
the storys headline, lamenting years of budget cuts, the child welfare agency
budget actually increased 13.4% over a ten-year period (while the caseload rose
45%). Even if one thinks the state needs to pour more money into this failing
system, its inaccurate to talk about budget cuts over a time span in which
spending increased, albeit at a slower rate than the rate of caseload increase.
For more on New Jerseys child welfare woes,
click here.