How can Vito Fossella be fiscally responsible with $9 trillion of debt?

The Advance ran another ad article on Rep. Vito Fossella. They praise him for 20 paragraphs on his fiscal hawkishness and all but deem him the only person keeping our national spending in check. I am sure Fossella appreciates that the Advance writes this stuff so that he doesn't have to use his own spokesperson to pat himself on the back.

Staten Island's congressman tries to keep on the lookout for what he considers to be wasteful federal spending. Doing that is his duty, of course. According to Mr. Fossella, he has voted so far to reduce careless government expenditures for the 2008 fiscal year by at least $23.7 billion.

Psst, did you try looking over here at the war in Iraq? You remember that debacle right Advance? Back in January 2007 it was costing us $300 million a day. Where is Rep. Fossella's outrage?

In the days before the war almost five years ago, the Pentagon estimated that it would cost about $50 billion. Democratic staff members in Congress largely agreed. Lawrence Lindsey, a White House economic adviser, was a bit more realistic, predicting that the cost could go as high as $200 billion, but President Bush fired him in part for saying so.

if he wants to look into wasteful spending, where is his demand for a Congressional hearing on why this administration so grossly under estimated the cost of the war to date. The higher $200 billion is just slightly off of the $1.2 trillion estimates from nearly a year ago. But congratulations nonetheless on reducing careless expenditures by $23.7 billion, that is a whole 79 days of expenses for the US in Iraq.

Let's put this in perspective for a moment. $23.7 billion is a large number. The fact that it is so minusculed by the ongoing costs of this war alone truly shows Rep. Fossella's priorities. Sure there is a war, but is the Congressman just puts out another press release or shows us some endorsement for his Fiscal Conservatism maybe we can stop focusing on all those negatives of a $9 trillion debt. If you will just praise Fossella and not look behind the curtain all will seem rosy. Then again if the Advance won't look at what the $1.2 trillion price tag for Fossella's war in Iraq could have instead funded, let me show you;

doubled "cancer research funding, treatment for every American whose diabetes or heart disease is now going unmanaged and a global immunization campaign to save millions of children’s lives."

Combined, the cost of running those programs for a decade wouldn’t use up even half our money pot. So we could then turn to poverty and education, starting with universal preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old child across the country. The city of New Orleans could also receive a huge increase in reconstruction funds.

The final big chunk of the money could go to national security. The recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that have not been put in place — better baggage and cargo screening, stronger measures against nuclear proliferation — could be enacted. Financing for the war in Afghanistan could be increased to beat back the Taliban’s recent gains, and a peacekeeping force could put a stop to the genocide in Darfur."

But none of that is happening. A you can be sure that if any of that was proposed fiscally scrudge-like Fossella would most definitely vote against them and then roll out a press release letting tax payers know what he saved them.

So pardon me while I am skeptical of the Advance and Rep. Fossella's new found defender of fiscal integrity award, but where have you been for the past seven years when the debt has jumped from $5.7 trillion when Bush took office to the expected $10 trillion when he leaves. Where have you been for six of those seven years when you were part of the majority that crafted the budget, that oversaw our spending and had the chance to put a stop to all of this needless waste? Where were those airplanes then Rep. Fossella?