Vince Avedon – 2/15/07

This page was last updated on February 18, 2007.

Follow the money; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; February 15, 2007.

As you read this, remember Mr. Avedon once wrote that a high school student who showed interest in enlisting in the Marines as a “was probably brought up to be a two-faced traitor to his country.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Last week, Paul Bremer failed to explain what he did with 363 tons of newly printed, shrink-wrapped $100 bills he had flown to Baghdad.

“That’s $12 billion in cold, hard American cash, and no one knows where it went.”

[RWC] Mr. Avedon doesn’t waste any time getting to a lie. The alleged $12 billion was really Iraqi “hard cash” converted to American dollars. At the time, few people in Iraq wanted to be paid in Iraqi currency. That’s why the Iraqi funds were converted to American dollars.

Also, Mr. Avedon isn’t very original. According to my web research, “cold, hard American cash” appears to be a popular was to refer to cold, hard Iraqi cash.

“Bremer, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, said that a lot of the cash was delivered to meet payrolls that were fraudulent. How much of that $12 billion in cash was handed out to American contractors (i.e., Halliburton) in Baghdad?”

[RWC] As I noted in another recent critique, do liberals like Mr. Avedon have a word list they go to for their letters? For example, is it a requirement to mention Halliburton in any letter referring to Iraq?

“We’ve wasted $600 billion on a war that we’re losing.”

[RWC] I wish these guys would make up their minds. This past week liberals were saying $400 billion.

I know this is a mean thing to say, but do you get the impression Mr. Avedon and his fellow travelers are actually hoping for us to lose in Iraq?

“Bush presents a federal budget that cuts Medicare to find billions for more of that war.”

[RWC] Yet another lie. According to the fiscal year 2008 budget proposal, Medicare spending goes from $325 billion in 2006 to $482 billion in 2012 with increases every year in between.

“The Decider boasts that if we do things his way, America’s wealthiest individuals won’t have to pay even one dollar more in taxes.”

[RWC] And the lies keep on coming. Ever since the Bush tax rate cuts were enacted, “America’s wealthiest individuals” have been paying an even greater share of taxes than they were before the rate cuts. Check the IRS data if you doubt me.

“Maybe we could add a prison wing to the $500 million George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.”

[RWC] A prison for whom?

If Mr. Avedon wants to add a wing, he’ll need to raise the money. All presidential libraries are constructed using private donations, not tax dollars.