Inspired by recent Diary entries, I compiled the following and sent email to my Bush-supporting family and friends:
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission), has been in the news for the past couple of weeks. I'm not going to attempt to break down the testimonies by various principal figures, nor weigh the reactions by media and politicians. I dare not speculate on the consequence of the Commission's final report. And I won't make the argument that the mission of the committee has been repeatedly frustrated by the Bush Administration and GOP congressional leadership (1)(2). I just want to provide a bit of simple, quantitative, perspective:
"Public Law ... provided ... $3 million for the [9/11] Commission. Congress subsequently appropriated... an additional $11 million [and later] ...an additional $1 million, bringing the Commission's total budget to $15 million." (3)(4)
vs.
"The investigative arm of Congress said [in Sept. 2002] that the criminal investigation of former President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton has cost $70 million. ...Independent Counsel Robert Ray... said he and his predecessor, Kenneth Starr, spent $42 million investigating [the Clintons' failed Whitewater real estate venture]... and... $12.5 million on the perjury and obstruction probe of the president and his sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky." (5)(6)
So, to restate, that's $15 million "...to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks... [and] to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks." (7) And $70 million to investigate the circumstances surrounding the dealings and mis-dealings of one man.
Dan
(1) http://www.911commission.gov/ The Commission "...is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks... [and] to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks."
(2) A Google search for "Bush blocks 9/11 Commission", which yields 22,000 hits, make the argument plainly. Among the hurdles the Commission has faced: White House attempts to block the creation of the commission in the first place; White House attempts to block funding of the commission beyond the original $3MM; White House delays providing documents and witnesses to the commission; White House places "...'maddening' restrictions... on [commission members'] access to key documents"; White House attempts to block extension of Commission's deadline by two months; Bush limits his testimony to the Commission to a single hour in private session; Bush resists appearing before all 10 members of the commission as they had requested (desiring to be questioned [only] by the panel's chairman and vice chairman); Bush limits Commission testimony to a private session where he will not have to swear under oath and will appear in tandem with Dick Cheney; White House witholds thousands of pages of Clinton policy documents; White House forbids Condoleezza Rice from public sworn testimony; finally, threatening any remaining semblance of independence of the Commission, the White House will vet "line by line" (and further delay) the final report of the Commission before it is publicly released. This footnote needs footnotes; it's all out there via Google.
(3) http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/faq.htm#q5
(4) Note that I have paraphrased for purposes of brevity only. Selectively quoting sources is a popular technique for distorting the original source.
(5) http://www.detnews.com/2002/politics/0204/01/politics-453025.htm
(6) You may note these numbers don't add up. The $70 million figure includes "Travelgate", "Vince Foster-gate", "FBI File-gate", and presumably lots of administrative overhead.
(7) see (1).