Just as a matter of mild interest, since I am deep in the throes of amending my 2002 taxes just what is that thing that the white house refers to as our current "burn rate" in Iraq? The first time I ever heard the term burn rate was out of Rummy-(one of my all time faves) on Sunday July 13 with George Stephanopolis. It just slithered out, "Burn Rate" and George didn't bat an eyelash. Emboldened, Rummy started slinging the term around more and more- "burn rate burn rate for this..., burn rate that we had thought..., but the burn rate can't be calculated for the future cause we don't know the future...". Now< Tuesday on the Newshour I heard the Whitehouse head of Office of Management and Budget - and he suddenly outed with the term "burn rate" too- giving a sly smile as he said it, as if it is a piece of insider slange that they are letting us in on-. He gave the burn rate as being over 4.2 Billion- somehwat highter than Rummy's 3.9 burn rate even though it was only a couple of days later. And how come none of those news guys ask them about the term "burn rate"?
Just what is it that "burns?" Is that our money? Do they just burn it? Will there be any money to return to me if I am due a tax cut? Is that why they are implementing tax cuts? Because they don't want us to get too mad about the fact that they are just "burning it"? Where are they burning it? Do they have a big bar-b-que in downtown Baghdad where they burn money? Couldn't they just burn oil instead and let me have my money back instead of burning it?? ?