Bush: Things Will Get Better

President George Bush told us yesterday the economy will get better and all patriotic Americans believe him.

"It was strong action by the Fed, and they did so because some financial institutions that borrowed money to buy securities in the housing industry must now repair their balance sheets before they can make further loans," the president said.

He also had kind words for his economic team. "Today's events are fast moving, but the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the Treasury are on top of them and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets," Bush assured his audience.

More than $150 billion of tax rebate checks are scheduled to reach 130 million U.S. households in May, Bush said, adding that his economic advisors believed the money would boost consumer spending somewhat in the second quarter and would have "a greater effect in the third quarter."

In the meantime, he said, "The challenge is not to do anything foolish."

Worth Every Penny

Got rid of the bad guy so Operation Iraqi Freedom is worth it.

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

No Surrender in Iraq

Even the Chinese know pulling out of Iraq is bad.

The costs of leaving Iraq unstable would be high. Jihadists everywhere would be emboldened. I have met many Gulf leaders and know that their deep fear is that a precipitate U.S. withdrawal would gravely jeopardize their security.

A hurried withdrawal from Iraq would cause the leaders of many countries to conclude that the American people cannot tolerate the nearly 4,000 casualties they have suffered in Iraq and that in a protracted asymmetrical war the U.S. government will not have its people's support to bear the pain that is necessary to prevail. And this even after the surge of 30,000 additional troops under Gen. David Petraeus has resulted in an improved security situation.

Whatever candidates might say in the course of this presidential campaign, I cannot believe that any American president could afford to walk away from Iraq so lightly, damage American prestige and influence, and so undermine the credibility of American security guarantees.

Top Scores From USA Today Sports

Here are the top scores from USA Today Sports for the latest National Basketball League:

108-95

98-88

112-109 (OT).

Check back tomorrow for NHL scores.

Pat Robertson on Giuliani Team

With Pat Robertson on board with Rudy Giuliani the rest of the Republican field just now go home. It's over.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — They could compete for strangest bedfellows of 2008.

Rudolph W. Giuliani is a supporter of gay and abortion rights who is building his Republican primary campaign around his response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Pat Robertson, the Christian conservative broadcaster, once said permissiveness toward homosexuality and abortion led to God’s “lifting his protection” to allow those attacks.

But there they were Wednesday morning, Mr. Robertson endorsing Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, as “an acceptable” Republican “who can win the general election.”

It was the latest manifestation of the deep divide in the Christian conservative movement over how to balance politics and principle in the coming era after President Bush, who once so deftly brought it all together.

Many former Christian conservative allies dismissed the endorsement as an inexplicable stunt. They noted that Mr. Robertson, 77, had lost much of his influence since the heady days of his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses 20 years ago when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

Deer Kills Georgia Man

A Georgia man was attacked and killed by a deer. Is Nature seeking revenge?

A 66-year-old Ball Ground man was attacked and killed by a deer Sunday night, authorities said.

The deer — most likely a red deer, and not the more commonly found white-tailed deer — was one of several that John Henry Frix kept on his vast property on Trail of Tears Trail off Yellow Creek Road.

His relatives told sheriff's deputies that the deer had been very aggressive lately, chalking its behavior to rut — the period when deer mate.

Frix had gone out to tend to the deer about 7 p.m., county sheriff's Sgt. Jay Baker said. When he didn't return, his relatives called authorities.

Deputies found him about an hour and a half later lying inside one of the pens, 100 yards from the home. He had been gored several times in the upper body by the antlers of the deer, Baker said.

Congress should listen to Petraeus

General Petraeus will tell Congress the truth and they should listen to him. He know Iraq. He knows the troops.

General Petraeus, whose long-awaited testimony before Congress will begin Monday, has informed President Bush that troop cuts may begin in mid-December, with the withdrawal of one of the 20 American combat brigades in Iraq, about 4,000 troops. By August, the American force in Iraq would be down to 15 combat brigades, the force level before Mr. Bush’s troop reinforcement plan.

The precise timing of such reductions, which would leave about 130,000 troops in Iraq, could vary, depending on conditions in the country. But the general has also said that it is too soon to present recommendations on reducing American forces below that level because the situation in Iraq is in flux. He has suggested that he wait until March to outline proposals on that question.