Bush's Nominee to CIA Backed Massive Intelligence Budget Slashes

Washingtonpost.com

Porter Goss, Bush's handpicked successor to George Tenet, would have cut intelligence personnel by 20% between 1996 and 2000.

Bush is slamming John Kerry for advocating cuts in the intelligence budget, but the proposals co-sponsored by Goss would have slashed the budget even further. So according to Bush's rhetoric, his own people are being even more irresponsible with the nation's intelligence gathering than Kerry.

This is nonsense, of course, and undercuts Bush's criticism of Kerry. It's not irresponsible to look for ways to cut the budget. It's not irresponsible to find a more efficient and cheaper way of getting the job done.

And it would seem that lying about Kerry's record is the most efficient way Bush has of campaigning this year.