Tierney Raps President on Iraq and Budget Deficit

by David Tamasi

WASHINGTON - Fresh from an August recess, Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, on Wednesday sharply attacked President George W. Bush for his handling of the war on Iraq.

"There has been no accounting of the first $79 billion spent, on top of the over $400 billion spent on the military in the budget," Tierney said in an interview. "We need exact detail on the next $87 billion, how much for force protection and how much for reconstruction."

Tierney said he supports a movement to repeal some of Bush's tax cuts in return for approving the president's request for $87 billion more for wars and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We want a realistic budget from the President," Tierney said. "This President blew through a surplus, and now we have a $600 billion deficit, due to tax cuts for the wealthy."

When asked what constituted "wealthy," Tierney replied, "Those that earn over $200,000."

The four-term Democrat was relaxed and confident as he espoused the Democratic line on taxes, the war, education and Medicare in his Capitol Hill office. Tierney said he hoped Congress would "assert its constitutional authority" to challenge the President's proposals.

"If we asked questions of the administration before and were not waving flags, we were unpatriotic," he said. "I am hopeful that Congress now has the legs to ask questions."

Tierney did not limit his criticism to war, but denounced Bush on a host of domestic issues as well.

A member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Tierney blasted the President for "broken promises" associated with the No Child Left Behind Act, a 2001 law that imposes standards and testing intended to improve public schools. Tierney added that the Bush administration has inadequately funded special education, higher education and Pell Grants for college students.

Tierney also criticized the president for diverting money to tax cuts that could have helped states pay for public education.

Currently, he said, Massachusetts ranks 49th in the country in its support of public colleges and universities and second to California in the size of tuition increases. State funding for higher education in Massachusetts decreased by 11 percent this year from fiscal 2002.

"The state has to have a commitment," Tierney said. He said the federal government was in a position to do more, but "that was before the money was spent on the President's tax cuts."

One area in which Tierney welcomed the President's assistance was on Medicare. The House and Senate have each passed bills to provide prescription drugs to Medicare recipients, and negotiators face major hurdles in ironing out the differences, Tierney said.

Tierney voted against the bill in the House because it did not provide enough government assistance to senior citizens, he said. If the President wants to be able to sign a prescription-drug bill, he will have to compromise with senators whose bill provided more government support, Tierney added.

"That said, both the House and Senate bills do not provide adequate coverage," he said.

Tierney said he remained committed to ensuring that funding for an MBTA Blue Line extension to Lynn would occur and serve as a "huge economic development piece" for the Merrimack Valley area. He said that although a House bill funding the Transportation Department contained money for such projects in his district, the final bill still has to be negotiated with the Senate.